Why get mad? Get even
by maychelle
Summary: "Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.
1. Hell hath no fury

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter One: Hell hath no fury**

Rose couldn't believe the gall of him. How dare he say "Love fades. Mine has," and expect her to not have any reaction? Did he actually expect her to fall down to her knees and clutch at him, wailing at him not to go? Not to leave her?

Please, she was the (in) famous Rosemarie Hathaway, one of the few Novices to actually get her molnija marks before even graduating the academy as a fully-fledged Guardian. She was one of the only known Shadow-kissed dhampirs after Anna. Besides that, didn't the name 'Abe Mazur' ring any bells? He was her (definitely) infamous Moroi father (Not that the mainstream vampire society knew that he was).

She had contemplated begging him to stay with her. This was a thought that she had seriously entertained for quite a while, but her _ex-_best friend Lissa's words drove that thought right out of her mind.

_Flashback_

_Rose had been moping in her room, thinking about Dimitri's words and what he had said about going on to guard Tasha. Her moping was disturbed when Lissa burst into her room._

"_What were you thinking, Rose!? Going up to him just like that?"_

"_He hasn't talked to me, Lissa. Not seriously, like sit down properly and talk, talk. Not since…"she paused here._

"_I know, not since being turned back. But Rose, he is still trying to adjust back. He told me that he has a lot of difficulty relating back to mainstream vampire society again," Lissa said, sitting down at the foot of her friend's bed._

_Rose couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy when she heard what Lissa said. That jealousy was because her friend actually spent more time with her lover than she did, what with him confiding with her, all the while acting as if he worshipped the very ground that Lissa walked on and also at the same time ignoring her, acting like she didn't exist. Lissa herself seemed to be soaking up all the attention, inadvertently ignoring her boyfriend Christian in all this._

"_He's supposed to be my mentor, Lis. He is the one who taught me a lot of the stuff that I know and can do now, after all. Besides that, who is going to mentor me for my last…"Rose started, better to hide behind this reasoning rather than the other more enormous, shocking one of a broken heart._

"_Stop it! Just stop!" Lissa cried, springing up to feet. She glared at her best friend. "Can't you see that all this whining and jealousy of his time is pushing him away? So what if he wants to spend more time with Lady Ozera? Tasha is one of his oldest friends, and she can relate to him very well, what with her brother and sister-in-law turning to Strigoi as well." She said, misunderstanding the hurt look on her friend's face._

"_Besides, are you begrudging Christian his time with his Aunt? She is rarely free, and usually she is at their home in Russia, arranging everything so that when Christian takes his lordship, there will be less things for him to worry about," Lissa was working up a fine steam by this time._

_To Rose, this hurt more than most. For a long time, Lissa was all that she had. They were like sisters, and she sided with her more times than she can count. In turn, Rose protected as best she could from all the evils in the world, especially that time that they were out and about in the human world, where danger and Strigoi lurked around every corner. All she was asking for was a little sympathy. Was that too much to ask for?_

"_Just leave him alone," Lissa said finally, fed up with her friend's suddenly childish ways. "At the same time, you can leave me alone too. Nobody even wants you here anyway. You only get those around you hurt or killed," she snapped, then almost instantly regretting what she said. But it had to be said, so that her friend would wake up and become the Rose Hathaway that she knew way back when._

_That was the straw that broke the camels' back._

"_Get out," Rose said in an eerily calm voice. Lissa stared, astonished by the sudden change of tone. Then Rose looked up at her with anger shining through her eyes. "I said get out!" she screamed, standing up and pushing Lissa away, out of her room and then slamming the door in the princess' face._

"_If that's how you really feel, then stay away. I don't need you around me if that is how you think about the deaths of __**my**__ friends, and the sacrifices that I made to bring Dimitri back to us," she sneered, biting her lip on the inside to keep the angry and devastated tears from rolling down her cheeks. She might have lost any affection and respect that Lissa had held for her, but she sure as hell wasn't losing any of her hard won dignity to the princess._

"_Excuse me, Princess, but I believe you have much better things to do than hang around the door of a Novice who has yet to take her final assessment tests, let alone graduate," the dismissal was clear in her tone._

_She listened intently for the retreating footsteps that indicated the departure of the princess, before she slid down the door, finally giving into her tears. Rose promised herself as she fruitlessly rubbed away the tears that this would be her last concession to her girly side. This would be the last and only time that she would shed tears for both the man who broke her heart and the girl who had almost broken her spirit. No more, she silently vowed to herself, would she live by the expectations of others, because from now on Rosemarie Hathaway, the badass Novice who went around doing things recklessly and not giving a fuck to what everyone else said was back and she was here for the long haul._

_She picked herself up from the floor, walking gingerly for a while as to let the pins and needles in her legs wear off (how long was she actually moping around on the floor for?), then sat down at her desk as she made her plans for her come-back._

_First things first, she needed to pass the final assessments, and with flying colours…_

_Flashback end_

The first thing that she had to do for the come-back of the one and only Rose Hathaway was to get herself into shape. Sure, she was in shape for a Novice, maybe even a halfway decent top Novice, but being out there in the real world, chasing after Strigoi Dimitri showed her how weak she really was. She could barely stand up to the normal Dimitri, Guardian strength, strategy and experience and all that, but compared to Dimitri turned Strigoi?

She was dead meat in the water with a boulder tied to her feet and lead tied to her arms. She was that fucked.

So, being the resourceful dhampir that she was, she went to see Guardian Petrov for advice.

The woman was in her office, going over the usual amount of paperwork that came with the post of Head Guardian of the academy. She looked up when Rose barged into her room, not bothering with knocking. Alberta withheld a smile at the familiar way that Rose treated her, but then she had practically raised the girl herself, so she let the impertinence slide. Besides, the truly serious look on her face was screaming that Rose was up to something and that she needed her help with it.

She unconsciously straightened her posture as the young woman came to a stop in front of her desk.

"I need you to fight me," Rose said without preamble.

"Excuse me?" the persona of Guardian Petrov took over at the sudden request for a fight. "Would you care to repeat your request?"

"I need you to fight me, Guardian Petrov," was the adamant reply.

"Why?" she truly was curious as to what was running around in Rose's mind for her to voice this request.

"I need to know where I stand," she elaborated at the 'carry on' look that Guardian Petrov was sporting. "I need to get better. I know that I might be able to beat a lot, maybe even all of the Novices whom are to take their final assessments soon," Petrov rolled her eyes at this, "but I can't truly compare to any Guardians who have a few years under their belt, what more to any fledgling Strigoi, or even those whom have lived for centuries."

"That's true, but what brought about this sudden decision?" Petrov asked not a little cautiously and curiously.

Two words. "Strigoi Dimitri." Enough said.

Alberta couldn't control the sigh that slipped from her lips. Of course it would be because of Guardian Belikov. She may have been blind to a lot of things that went on between the two, but the instant attraction and reciprocated feelings Rose and Dimitri had was so obvious to her that it was as if to them the sun rose and fell in each other's eyes, and no other would do. The blatant relationship that Rose was in currently with Lord Ivashkov paled in comparison to that. Besides, she had heard through the St. Vladimir grapevine about the scene involving Rose and Dimitri at the church.

"All right, Miss Hathaway, say that I fight you. What then?"

"You give me an honest assessment of how good or bad I am, and I will take it from there," she gave that nonchalant reply.

"How are you planning on 'taking it from there' as you say?" Petrov asked not a little sceptically. The young woman before her just smirked and said, "I have my ways, don't worry."

"Somehow, that doesn't reassure me at all," the Head Guardian said in an undertone. Out loud she said, "When do you want to do this assessment?"

"Right now would be fine."

The duo then proceeded to the gym, where since it was Moroi midnight (meaning morning), there were hardly any people inside. Any who were there, were summarily shooed out and instructed to bar anyone from entering for the rest of the night (day). Then, Guardian Petrov started her test of Rose. By the end of the session, she finally had an honest assessment of her young charge, and Rose was exhausted.

As Rose lay panting on the gym mats, Guardian Petrov gave her assessment of her skills to her straight up. "You are in shape, but you're still not up to top Novice standards. You have definitely learned a lot under Guardian Belikov's tutelage, and your time outside did give you some precious experience in how to be rough and tumble with true Strigoi, but you still lack in speed and stamina. In fact, your speed seems to have dropped slightly from the previous academy assessment of yours. Besides that, you have not developed much of a fighting style outside of the academy sanctioned style and some of Belikov's moves. You need to branch out more."

"Don't worry, I have something in mind to help me improve," she raised herself from the mats, accepting Guardian Petrov's helping hand when it was extended. "Thanks for the honest assessment," she said as she limped her way slowly out of the gym. She did sprain her ankle doing that unsuccessful drop-kick on the Head Guardian, after all.

"You need to get that ankle looked at, Rose," Petrov finally let her motherly side for the young woman show through. Rose turned around and smile softly at the Guardian. "I know, Alberta."

* * *

When she got back to her room, the first thing she did was plug up the tub and fill it up partially with water turned to the coldest setting it could go to. Next, she fished around in her bag for the encrypted sat-phone that her father Abe Mazur had delivered to her just a week ago, with the note 'Call me when you need me, Kiz' attached to it. How it got through the mail screening (which was notoriously tough), she would never know.

Her father picked up on the second ring. "Hi Kiz, what are you calling me for at this hour?" "Can't a girl call her long lost father without there being an ulterior motive? Can't I just say that I'm calling to say 'hi'?"

"Kiz, it is midnight by Moroi standards. You wouldn't be calling me just to say hi to your old man. Besides, you're Janine's and my daughter. We always have something hidden up our sleeves," Abe said, his voice startlingly clear and commanding despite the late hour.

"Ok, old man, you caught me. I just…" Rose was cut off. "I know what it is that you want to ask for. One of my Elite Guardians has already boarded my jet and is on the way to the academy as we speak. She will help to train you up for the finals, and make sure that you graduate at the top of your class."

"How did you even know…" she was cut off again. "I'm your father, Kiz. I have been by your side all along, despite whatever Janine might have implied to the contrary. Why do you think that you and Princess Dragomir did not encounter any Strigoi during the two years out in the human world? My Elite has been protecting you all this while, retreating only when my spies at Court and at the academy told me of the search and rescue team that was finally coming after you. I knew all about your relationship with Dimitri from the onset, and just minutes after the _piç _broke your heart my Elite told me the whole thing."

The rumbling voice of her father reassured her in a way that she had been craving, yet not knowing about it all along. That there was someone out there that stood in her corner, and had been rooting for her all the while letting her make all her mistakes so that she could learn from them by herself. Just letting her be, yet always hiding in the shadows, ready to catch her should she fall. Was this how having a father's love felt like?

"Kiz, you should get some rest. Guardian Rasheeda should be arriving by morning. You are definitely going to need the rest if you wish to not embarrass yourself before her." Abe rumbled, a smirk seeming to leak through his voice and the phone line, and into her ears.

"Yeah, I guess old man. It was nice talking to you." Rose said, smiling lightly. "Good night, Rose." The line went silent after that.

She decided to soak her foot half an hour longer and wrap the ankle tightly before tumbling into bed in the early hours of dawn. Tomorrow (technically today) was going to be a big day after all.

* * *

The whole academy was buzzing by breakfast about the arrival of a new Guardian to take the place of Guardian Belikov, as he had accepted the duty of guarding Lady Ozera and after that following her back to Russia. The buzz even affected the Royal Moroi, as it was rare that any female Guardian was sent to St. Vladimir's. They were usually stationed at Court, around the female Royal Moroi. Also, what made it so interesting was because this Guardian was one of the main Guardians to Ibrahim Mazur, the infamous Moroi who had many footholds in both the Moroi and human world.

When the doors to the cafeteria opened, it was to the sight of what a true Turkish desert princess might have looked like once upon a time. The image was then compounded upon when the resident desert princess look-alike, and troublemaker extraordinaire Rose Hathaway stood up from her seat and glomped the Guardian, clinging to her like an enormous version of a koala bear. This, of course, was actually an elaborate act concocted by the Guardian and Rose herself a couple of hours beforehand.

_Rewind a few hours_

_A brisk wind was blowing from the West as the jet touched down on the runway. Rose herself was not immune to the cold, and she was bundled up in a jacket and scarf as she watched the descent of the plane. She didn't know it, but her destiny was about to change with this one fateful meeting._

_The vision that descended from the interior of the jet was all that Rose aspired to be and more. Calm, cool, collected with a sensual appeal yet deadly aura – those were the first impressions that stuck her. Then, she registered the mischievous gleam in those self-same kohl lined brown eyes and felt an immediate rapport._

"_My name is Guardian Mazur, but you can call me Rasheeda," the vision said, extending a hand towards Rose._

"_Mazur? Are you by any chance related to Abe, I mean my father?" Rose queried as she shook the extended hand. The grip was firm yet not constricting, a good sign indeed. The mischievous gleam shined brighter. _

"_You are correct, kuzen. He is my 'uncle' as you would call it, though the connection is distant. However, the children of Mazur usually take the name, unless in certain circumstances, such as your own, where the kiz or oğlum takes the mothers' name instead." She elaborated, seeing the puzzled look in her eyes, "daughter or son."_

"_Okay, nice to meet you then, cousin. So," she paused to look her cousin in the eyes as she suggested something, "I'm sure that you know about what's been going on, right? Are you game for playing a prank on the stuck up idiot Morois and dull Novices and Guardians at the Academy?"_

"_Count me in, cousin," was the happy reply. The entire car ride back was filled with happy laughter and good natured joking after that._

_Fast forward a few hours into the future_

There were many reasons that the denizens of St. Vladimir's Academy were staring. For one thing, the female Guardian that had just waltzed in was exuding a very sexy, predatory aura that was stirring the thoughts of conquer in just about every male mind, Moroi and dhampir alike. The next thing that stirred their blood was that the (in) famous Rose Hathaway was back to her pre-Spokane self, meaning that she was just as sassy, bouncy, bitchy and sexy as ever. This was made even more irresistible when the entire student body realised that she was wearing the shortest, bounciest skirt that they had ever seen her wear, bar none. She was even in heels, which made her walk even more alluring than usual. The icing on the cake was when she made a running leap for the female Guardian, who actually was aware of her impending collision with terra firma, and steadied herself as she caught the Novice in her arms.

Said Novice proceeded to wrap her legs around the slim waist of the Guardian, and then mashed her lips against the slightly older woman's. Her skirt slipped even more, showing off her tan legs that seemed to go on for miles, which the males in the room (and some females) didn't mind the view of. The Guardian herself responded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms tighter around the waist and butt of the young woman in her arms, one hand snaking up her neck to entwine itself into Rose's hair and then continued on to grip the long strands and pull, earning an ardent moan as answer. Quite a few people had to readjust their pants or excuse themselves at the sound.

"Miss Hathaway!" the shocked, angry voice of Headmistress Kirova sounded through the cafeteria as the aged Moroi marched up to the spectacle. "Let go of Guardian Mazur this instant, young lady! How dare you assault a Guardian of this institution, a newly arrived Guardian at that?"

"Well, I'm not complaining, am I?" came the lazy drawl of that self-same Guardian, finally detaching her lips from Rose's, earning a disgruntled mewling sound that made more people re-adjust their pants. "It's okay. I know Rose, and we haven't seen each other in such a long time that her greeting was not unpleasant at all, not even unexpected at that," she turned to look at Rose, "you alright, kitten?"

Rose turned her head slightly, showing slightly confused, heavily lidded eyes, rosy pink cheeks and kiss bruised lips. Many people shivered at that look. That look was so sexy and alluring that it should be prohibited for being deadly. Her mussed appearance added to the 'just had sex and I'm so satisfied' look that she was sporting right then. When she slowly slithered, yes, _slithered_ down the Guardian's side, more people became convinced that joining the worship Rose Hathaway cult (_underground of course_) was worth it.

"Good morning, Headmistress Kirova. I'm just greeting my _kuzen_ after having not seen her for such a long time. Is that so wrong?" Rose asked innocently.

"That, that display was…." The headmistress was so lost for words she was spluttering, very unbecoming of a Moroi.

"Can I join in?" another lazy voice drawled from behind the trio. Rose and the female Guardian turned around just as an arm snaked lazily around Rose's waist. It was Adrian. Of course, the guy was the first person to find out about Rose's new determination, since the first thing she did was to come clean and break things off with him. When he met Guardian Mazur just half an hour ago, he immediately hit it off with her and proceeded to add more to their elaborate prank, to shove it to the authorities and all that.

"How are you this morning, pet?" he asked, giving her a languid kiss on the forehead and giving Rasheeda a longer kiss on the neck (him being taller than them both).

"I'm fine, just dandy," came the chipper reply. The previous look on her face had all but disappeared, as if by magic (snicker inserted here). "Don't forget our date later, okay?" she addressed the question to the two other people beside her, completely ignoring the spluttering of the headmistress.

"Yes, dear," came the deadpan reply from both, but the wink from Adrian and the butt pinch from Rasheeda belied the excitement of both for the next step of their plan.

"So, I'll see you after classes okay?" Rose said happily as she sauntered her way out of the cafeteria, snagging her juice box on the way out. She gathered the shell shocked visages of her friends Eddie and Mia on the way out, throwing a saucy grin over her shoulder and a finger wiggle for added effect just before the cafeteria door closed behind her. Noise exploded like a bomb went off in the aftermath of that little show. _Bingo_. Phase two of their plan was a go.

Adrian and Rasheeda exchanged discrete looks as they too made a strategic retreat from the cafeteria to make preparations for the next phase of the prank.

* * *

"Who the hell was that?" Mia demanded as she and Eddie were dragged by Rose halfway across the school to the dorm buildings of the Moroi to get her things first.

"What is going on, Rose?" Eddie added his two cents in. "I've definitely never seen that Guardian before, and I should know, since besides Lissa, I'm your oldest friend to date."

"Guys, not here," Rose hissed, pushing them into Mia's rooms (they had gone inside by now). "I'll tell you everything, but not out here where everyone can hear." They then went inside, whereupon she spilled the entire sordid affair to her friends. They were understandably shocked and angry at first, but not long after they came to see her side of the story and proceeded to stand by her.

"So, it's all just an elaborate prank? Is that right?" Mia clarified half an hour later. Rose nodded.

"Whew," Eddie mimed wiping his forehead, "remind me never to get you mad at me, like ever," he added after.

"So you guys can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show after school hours. I'm sure that the news has had sufficient time to travel around the school and into the ears of a certain Russian and a certain Princess by now. Just get ready for the fireworks. This is a long time coming, and I'm sure by the end of it, the academy will never be the same. No one like me has ever graced these halls, and there never will be another like me ever again, bar any children I will have in the future, _if_ I actually have any," she laughed aloud at that statement.

The sardonic yet amused looks on her friends faces indicated that they were still sceptical, but definitely anticipating the _festivities_ that were to come.

* * *

That incident was a month ago. Since then, Rose had improved her performance by leaps and bounds. Dimitri, who was rumoured to be a Blood Master level 7, which was nothing to sniff at, had laid a good foundation for Rasheeda to build on. She not only improved on Rose's speed and stamina, she also expanded her repertoire of moves and weapons usage by teaching her many other weapons that were strictly used by the Elite of the Mazur family. She also taught her dancing, as that added even more flexibility and agility to the moves that she taught Rose to incorporate into her personal style. After all, no Mazur Elite had the same exact moves.

The other things that she taught were things like seduction lessons and also some etiquette lessons, which she briefly touched on but assured the younger woman, would be taught even more in depth on after she had graduated and gotten her assignment. Rose always pestered her to know how did she know whom it was she was to be assigned to, but Rasheeda kept her lips zipped on the matter, just saying cryptic things like 'everything was already taken care of' and other such stuff.

When the time for the final assessments rolled around, Rose was a bundle of excitement. By now, even Christian was included in the prank. He too had been seemingly brushed aside by Lissa in her quest to 'help' Dimitri, and his aunt Tasha seemed to come around and even like Rose a little, although she was not privy to any of the inner workings of the group of friends. She was an adult after all, and she was the one whom was taking Dimitri away.

Of course, with the help of her cousin, Rose passed the final assessment tests with flying colours. The physical aspect of the exam, where she and the other Novices had to guard a Moroi almost twenty four / seven was the hardest part of all, but since she was assigned to guard Christian, it became almost like a walk in the park. Not to say that ole' Sparky didn't have his peeves and arguments, but for the most part, he agreed with her set limitations for his safety; and in the cases where she had to compromise (note: meaning almost all the time), she protected him perfectly. She became known as one of the only female Novices to graduate top of her class, with nearly flawless scores and a near perfect performance.

Then, Graduation Day for the seniors of St. Vladimir's rolled around.

As she watched the dhampirs and Morois stroll across the stage to receive their certificates from the Headmistress, she couldn't help but reminisce about the good times that she had had with her cousin, Adrian, Eddie, Mia and even Dimitri and Lissa. She had accepted that he was leaving, and she was trying to move on from it. But damn, he definitely needed a kick up the ass, whether real or figuratively. And the best way to do that was to show him _(and her too!)_ that she didn't need them to survive. She could do great on her own too.

"Rosemarie Hathaway." Headmistress Kirova called her name. She stood up and swayed her way up the stage, upstaging a lot of the Moroi who had tried to put on airs of being sexy. She didn't even do it consciously anymore; it was so ingrained by Rasheeda in her to walk that way.

"Thanks, Headmistress Kirova. Hope that I wasn't too much trouble over the years," she added cheekily, taking note of the exasperated look in the aged Moroi's eyes. She then turned back to her friends, and gave them a sultry wink and sashayed her way down the other side.

"Did you have to rile Kirova up, Rose?" Eddie asked, half amused; half exasperated. She nodded. "Yup, I had to do it for posterity's sake. Don't know when I will ever get the chance or even opportunity to do it again."

"Only you, Rose. Only you." Adrian said from the seat behind her. He might not be graduating with them, but he was Queen Tatiana's nephew, so he did get the privilege to sit with the graduating students.

"Now that we have finished with the graduating class, I would like to start giving out the assignment of duties to newly minted Guardians who will be leaving us after this." Headmistress Kirova announced, leaving excited murmuring in the wake of her words. Everyone was always curious whom they would/would not get as their Guardian. Some were just shipped off to Court and never heard of again, and to those ambitious fledgling Guardians, it was a fate worse than death.

"For the Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, her sanctioned Guardian is Guardian Belikov." There was a sharp inhale at this statement, as it was known by now that Belikov was supposed to leave with the Lady Ozera and Lord Ozera after his graduation to Russia. None made a louder noise than Lady Ozera herself, but her burgeoning protests were brushed aside by Kirova when she continued on giving out the assignments to the new Guardians.

Finally, "And for our top Novice, Miss Hathaway is assigned to Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur," she concluded, rolling up the duty roster in her hands. "By the way Guardian Hathaway, you will be leaving on the first jet out tonight, together with Guardian Mazur, to your new stationing. Congratulations to all the graduates." The headmistress dismissed them after that.

Rose was immediately surrounded by her friends, whom she hugged enthusiastically. "So, this is it, guys. Wish me luck."

"All the best, Hathaway," Eddie said gruffly, trying to mask the emotion in his voice. She grinned wider, patting his cheeks to reassure him. "It's okay, Eddie. Look, you even got Mia as your charge. You'll be fine," she said optimistically. "You are going to court after this, right Mia?"

"Well, I'm actually not so sure. I've been giving Lehigh some thought, and I am actually leaning towards going there," she said thoughtfully. Eddie rolled his eyes dramatically. "Not another school again, Mia. I thought we were done with this school business when we just graduated!" he yelped plaintively. This broke the tension in the group, and Rose hugged her friends once more.

"I'm going back to pack the last of my things. So, I'll see you guys around, 'kay?" she said as she released them and moved towards Adrian, giving him a peck on the cheek, an enthusiastic hug and whispering something in his ear that made him grin. Then, she proceeded over to Christian and his aunt.

"Lady Ozera, it's nice to meet you again. Sparky, don't look so down, I know that you'll be missing my lovely presence, but try not to miss me too much, okay?" she said teasingly. She hugged him tightly and whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry that things didn't work out with the princess, but remember that you've still got me and the rest of the gang to cheer you up, alright? Besides," this she said with a louder voice, "it's not as if you guys can't come and visit little ole' me at my new post. You guys are Moroi, after all. What's there to worry about?"

"Thanks for being such a great friend, Rose. Know that I am going to miss you," was Christian's answer. Then he saw something behind her and whispered in an aside, "Incoming." Rose slowly turned around, to be met with her ex-best friend and ex-lover at the same time.

"Princess Vasilisa, Guardian Belikov, a pleasure," she greeted cordially. Lissa looked crushed at the greeting, whereas Dimitri had his Guardian mask on tight, but Rose could still see that the words bothered him. "Well, I must be going. My plane leaves in one and a half hours' time, so I need to bounce. Sorry to dine and dash, so to speak, but it was nice seeing you all one last time. Princess, Belikov, an honour as always. Goodbye for now."

Without looking back, she proceeded to flounce her way out of the auditorium and out into the new world. There were endless possibilities waiting for her out there after all.

Precisely two hours later, the jet took off for places unknown, heading to Rose's new destiny.

* * *

**Meanings of words used:**

_Piç_ – Turkish for 'bastard' (pronounced as _peach_)

_Kiz_ – Turkish for 'daughter' (pronounced as _cuz_)

_oğlum_ – Turkish for 'son' (pronounced as _oh + lum_)

_Kuzen_ – Turkish for 'cousin' (pronounced as _coo + zan_)

* * *

AN: Thanks for reading and sticking with me so far. I hope that the story was up to you guys' discerning standards. Please stick with me for the next installment of my new story.


	2. Altı yıl sonra (6 yrs later)

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Altı yıl sonra (Six years later)**

Much had changed in the six years after graduation. Not to say that the intervening years were boring or anything; just that Rose realised that she had a lot to learn. Technically per se, she dropped off the face of Moroi society pages, but not due to lack of trying. It had more to do with the surprises that had awaited her in Istanbul.

_Six years ago_

_Stepping off the jet in Istanbul, it was like going back a few centuries to the height of the Ottoman Empire. The landing strip and airport housed at the edge of a sprawling estate seemed at first glance to be the only thing modern in the whole place; the rest were soaring domes flanked by vaults, semi domes and columns. The influence of Islamic religion could be felt all over the place, but the people inside were not actual practitioners of the faith. The palace (as it could only be described as such) that housed the inhabitants of the Mazur family loomed like a citadel up front, a citadel that exuded a warm and homey atmosphere to the girl who had been looking for home for a long time._

_An imposing figure in black stood at the front doors to the palace, his guard just a step behind him. So, that must the famous Pavel, her father's main guard and business confidante, Rose mused quietly to herself. Coming up to them, Pavel gave her a bow, as Rasheeda gave Abe a bow as well._

"_Hello, Kiz. You're home now," Abe said in a voice gruff with emotion. It seems like she wasn't the only one craving home all this while. Rose hesitated but a second, before she launched herself into her fathers' arms and hugged him like she never got to hug him in Russia, or all her life come to think of it._

_The Mazur head spoke something in Russian to his personal guard, and he and Rasheeda proceeded off, a servant hurrying out of the palace to take Rose's things. Their reunion embrace lasted a little longer, before she detached herself from his arms._

"_Wow, old man. I didn't know that I could have been 'slumming it' all this while in a real, live, honest-to God palace. If I knew, I would definitely have gone against Mom's orders and looked you up a long time ago," she said cheekily, earning guffaws from her otherwise stern looking father. His brown eyes shone brightly at her remark, before he replied, "Well, you could have been 'slumming it' as you said here in my humble abode," here she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, "but that would have served no purpose but to make you an even bigger target to my enemies," he finished solemnly._

"_Letting your mother have her way, was not only because I love and respect her wishes, but also for your safety, kizim. If you had stayed here, true, you would have grown up with more love than any daughter of mine can ask for, but your life would not only have been in constant danger, you yourself would not have realised the true potential that you have. For that, I have to thank that piç Belikov. And I don't like him very much for what he did to you."_

"_It's no biggie, old man. I'm here now, and that's not going to change any time soon." She looked around surreptitiously for her charge, earning a grin from her old man. "So, where is this Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur who is supposed to be my charge? She isn't your wife, is she?" Rose asked jokingly, but deep inside she was a little worried about this possibility._

_Abe just smirked and led his daughter deeper into the 'humble abode' of his, as he called it. Imagine, the Lady Fatma Mazur, his wife? He was sure to have a great laugh later on when he introduced the two. She had been waiting an eternity it seemed to meet with Rose._

That was the first time that Rose found out that she had a grandmother, on her old man's side no less. He had been laughing his head off (as he later confessed to his daughter and mother) when Rose made the assumption. It was best to go with the flow though, and the six years guarding her grandmother seemed to fly by, as she had so much fun with the old girl.

Lady Fatma, _call me_ _Büyükanne, dear,_ was a dear old lady well versed in the art of being a lesser Royal Moroi. She was the one who continued Rose's lessons on etiquette and dancing and comportment, and a whole host of other lessons that '_any decent Mazur kizi'_ should know about by the age of twelve. Rose was learning it six years later, but she did not graduate at the top of her class for nothing. Now, she knew all the little customs and quirks as good as, or even better than any Moroi whom had learned them all their lives.

The old girl was quite spry and agile for her age too _(ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies, torun)_, and woe betide any idiot who thought otherwise. This was especially compounded one of the few times that Lady Fatma and Rose were attacked outside the wards of the Citadel Mazur. Lady Fatma had showed off her impressive grasp of using non-weapons as weapons to defend herself and Rose, who was incapacitated at the time, to delay for time until help could arrive from the Citadel.

That help of course came pouring out the gates of Citadel Mazur post haste. These Strigoi scum had dared to ambush their Matriarch and Heiress right outside their front gates, so the Elite and normal Guardians answered in kind – overwhelming force. While the Strigoi were being taken care of, both Lady Fatma and Rose were spirited into the citadel, both heading in the direction of the healing wing of the palace. Lady Fatma was fine, what with the mantra of 'they always come first' running through Rose's mind at that time, and this was her flesh and blood, of course she would jump before the knife headed for the Mazur Matriarch.

That was the first time that she almost died after the accident that killed the Dragomir family (and her) years ago. In fact, she did die for almost a minute on the operating table. It was only through her intense will to live that she survived at all. After she recovered, she realised that the bond that had existed between her and Princess Vasilisa was gone. She was finally free. After that revelation, she threw herself whole heartedly into life, determining to live it to the fullest so that she wouldn't miss out on anything anymore. It was especially freeing, as she wouldn't get sucked into the mind of the princess any longer, and she wasn't privy to any other thoughts and feelings except her own.

Nowadays, there were many personas to Rosemarie Hathaway.

To the unwashed masses (hint: other Morois), she was Guardian Hathaway, a has been top Novice who had settled for looking after an aging Moroi and counted the days till she was free when said Moroi finally began pushing up daisies.

To the business associates of Ibrahim Mazur, she was Ameerah Mazur, the daughter of Zmey, his Heiress whom had inherited his business acumen and secretive nature. She was purported to be a great beauty, not like his other daughter with the Guardian Hathaway (not her, _the other one!_), who was a great lumbering oaf, who wouldn't know the difference between a soup spoon and a serving spoon. No one knew what she looked like, as she had adopted the tradition of all unbonded Mazur daughters and wore a mesh like veil when going out, that no amount of magic could see through.

To the Strigoi, she was only known as Kali, one of the top Elite of the Mazur Elite Guardians. No one except her superiors and comrades knew what she looked like, as she always wore a veil and dark clothing whenever they conducted raids on known Strigoi nests in Turkey. That had started approximately five years ago, and became known among the undead as the Purge. This had, in effect, made the territory ruled by the Mazur's a safe haven for many Moroi (not that they were admitting many), as the Strigoi attack rate was almost non-existent there.

To the rest of the world, meaning the humans, she was Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur, international model extraordinaire. She had burst onto the modelling scene scarcely a year ago, all golden hair and glowing skin, looking like a Malibu Barbie™, but with chocolate-y amber eyes that could entice the senses and ensnare the soul of any so lucky to look into her eyes face to face. She led a very secretive life, rarely exposing anything to the eyes of the public, but when she did, the glimpses into the life of Rhiannon were more than enough to keep them wanting more.

This was one such instance.

* * *

Rose, or Rhiannon as her alternate persona in the real world was known (note the sarcasm here), was just finishing up a shoot for Vanity Fair. She was dressed in a white ensemble that was fairly simple, consisting of a halter top neckline with a scoped back that ended mid back, and a body that highlighted her voluptuous figure, with a thigh high slit that ended near the top of her right thigh*. Her hair was flowing all over her back and sides (she had grown them out over the years), a riot of golden curls that highlighted her desert princess-esque features, making her look like a seductive angel in white.

There was a slight commotion over by the studio entrance that travelled inwards to the studio proper itself, and it soon resolved into the sight of two handsome men with very defining features. One was a tall man with handsome features and traffic stopping icy blue eyes. The other was another tall man of dark, 'just had sex' hair and green eyes. Both were arrestingly handsome, and both were known associates of Rhiannon, and reportedly secret paramours of the secretive model. That they both turned up together at a shoot was mind-boggling, and the tension that could erupt was palpable (or it was to the human's wild imaginations).

Rhiannon just sighed lightly and stepped up to the two handsome men. She hooked her arms through theirs, ignoring the discrete picture taking and not so discrete murmurs of interested people. It seemed that no matter where she went, she wouldn't be able to escape the bane of her life – gossip. No doubt, by the time she left the shoot an hour later, the pictures of Rhiannon and her two mystery men would be all over the internet. Heck, this might even get the notice of the dhampirs, whom were more in tune with the human world, so as to keep abreast with the latest human developments (note: spying).

After all, it was not every day that Lord Ivashkov and Lord Ozera were pictured together, with a beautiful model walking between them no less.

"What are you guys doing here?" she whispered lowly, at a decibel that keenest human ear would be hard pressed to hear, let alone discern the words of.

To keep up the human pretence, Adrian bent over slightly and whispered in her ear. "Can't a guy come and talk to his favourite little dhampir?" Christian joined in the fun, bending over her other ear. "Yeah, can't I come to see the annoying dhampir who always called me 'Sparky' back in high school?"

Their actions elicited another flurry of picture taking, and this was the scene that the photographer stumbled into.

"Rhiannon, who are these two gorgeous specimens of manhood that have taken your attention away from me?" came the deep, masculine voice of Jacques. He was an up and coming photographer who did shots exclusively for Vanity Fair, and the most recent cover of Kanye and Kim for their wedding was testament to his prowess.

Adrian and Christian looked up to meet the gaze of an artistically dressed younger man. They seemed to be sizing him up, just as he was doing them, but for entirely different reasons. The men were looking for threats, while he was doing it in a strictly professional, aesthetic basis. Rose rolled her eyes, and tugged them forward to meet her friend.

"Jacques, I'd like you to meet my good friends. Boys," she turned Adrian and Christian at this, "meet Jacques, my photographer and friend. He is, of course, happily married to his work and Mathilde, his wife."

The raised hackles backed down considerably at that comment. Rose inwardly smirked. Boys, so predictable, even after all these years.

"Rhiannon, darling, I must have them in this shoot with you."

"Jacques, you know very well that the management only wants me as the cover for this edition."

"Darling, they are too divine not to include in this shoot," he pouted cutely, drawing shivers from both men. A grown man was not supposed to have that expression on his face. It was reserved solely for some women (cough Rose cough) and children in general. "Maybe just a candid shot, even if it never goes on print?" he wheedled.

"That's fine by me. Is it okay, boys?" she turned to her friends, getting their murmured consent. She was careful not to mention any names; after all, you couldn't give the sharks everything they wanted, right?

Jacques immediately jumped into action, guiding them over to the set they had just used for Rhiannon. It was a beautiful park bench with flowers growing around it, with the backdrop a blue sky with small and realistic fluffy clouds dotting it. It was too girly for either Christian or Adrian, but they endured it after getting the reassurance that it was for personal use only.

The photographer then ordered for absolute silence and banned any outsider from the studio, confiscating all hand phones, cameras, videos cameras etcetera, leaving only his trusty Cannon as the only camera capable of taking this rare photo. He asked them to just act naturally, which the men found hard to do at first, until Rose decided to take their minds off of the whole thing by sharing an amusing story that happened the other day. Before long, everyone had loosened up, and the studio staff had a rare glimpse of the real Rhiannon/Rose in a natural setting. It was like seeing a unicorn for the first and perhaps only time in their lives.

Meanwhile, Jacques went crazy snapping photos. He never meant to honour his agreement with the company or Rhiannon. This was photography gold right here. His muse was going crazy with the images that were flashing through his mind. Heck, this was literally history in the making. Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur in a natural setting, with two gorgeous hunks at her side, was true gold. He had to get them immortalised in film (the still kind and moving kind, if possible).

At long last, an hour later (as she had predicted), Rose was finally free of the tedious make up and dresses that came with modelling. Both of her friends were waiting for her outside the studio, and they braved the paparazzi camped outside the building to get into the armoured car (not that the humans knew) that had transported both Christian and Aidan to her work location today. They successfully shook off the tails, and emerged into a quiet street in upper Manhattan. The stately home was actually the true home of Rose and the Mazur clan whenever they visited this side of America.

Once inside, she took off her hat and coat, before heading into the den, towards the sounds of piano music that emanated from that room. She rounded the corner, and caught sight of the true reason for her survival that hellish weekend six years ago.

"Mama," Three childish voices cried in obvious delight as they caught sight of their mother. The sound of three pairs of feet scampering across the carpeted floor was heavenly music to her ears. Rose bent down in half to accept the exuberant and passionate hugs and kisses from her three miracle children. _This_ was the true reason why Guardian Hathaway faded into obscurity, why Ameerah Mazur and Rhiannon Hathaway was so secretive about themselves, and why Kali was the top Elite in the Elite Guardians, on par with legends like Janine Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov. Her children, born of her and Dimitri.

No one truly knew about her children with Dimitri, as dhampir pairs were incapable of having any children, but they were conceived when she was a captive of Dimitri in Siberia, during his Strigoi phase, which was even more impossible, as he was considered undead at the time. But something magical happened between them, probably due to the influence of Spirit. The mechanics of it were not important to her, what was important was that she got to keep a part of the love of her life with her. She still loved him, but she was secure enough in herself that she did not need to cling to him like a child anymore.

Her first born was David Emirhan Belikov Hathaway Mazur, with his younger brother by seconds Mikhail Hakan Belikov Hathaway Mazur born clinging to his heel (the Belikov in their names was a subtle nod to their father). Her third and last child was the truly miraculous baby of the bunch. Teagan Feray Belikov Hathaway Mazur was born about half an hour after her elder brothers, blue and not breathing. Rose herself had succumbed to her wounds not long after that, and the Mazur doctors worked furiously to restore life to the Heiress of their clan and also the next Mazur heiress (their clan was actually matriarchal in nature, go figure).

Doctors managed to revive them, but they were kept under observation long months after that, even the twin boys, as their births were never before recorded in vampire history. It was truly a momentous moment, and to think that it happened to the Mazur clan. It couldn't have happened to a better clan, because what clan would be better suited to a secrecy filled birth than a clan that dealt with secrets on a daily basis? During that time period, the doctors and scientists made a revolutionary discovery.

Little Teagan was not only compatible with Moroi genes; she was also compatible with dhampir genes as well. They tested the boys, with the same astounding results; before finally turning to Rose herself. The results were exactly the same. Somehow, through all the deaths and Spirit usage, Rose's genes had been changed at a fundamental level, giving birth to a new sub-species of vampire. Ones that could procreate with either dhampirs or Moroi.

This explosive news was kept firmly under wraps, to not only keep Rose safe from unscrupulous Moroi or dhampir looking for a breeder (willing or otherwise), but also to keep the next generation of Mazur heirs/heiresses safe as well. Besides, hell hath no fury like an angry Mazur woman, and Rose was doubly so, being a new mother and all. And despite all that, no one was crazy enough to go against Zmey. His rage would mark the beginning of a new world war in the Middle Eastern range of countries in the world.

"Hi _Oğlum, Kizim_, have you been good to Auntie Rasheeda today?" Rose asked her children lovingly. They nodded happily, and the boys proceeded to regale her with tales of what they learned just that morning. However, when their quiet sister gave a tug on their shirts, they immediately quieted down, letting her soft melodic voice recite her day to her mother.

This was the scene that Adrian, then Christian walked into. They couldn't help but compare this Rose to the Rose of long ago, heck even just an hour ago. They were totally different creatures, it wasn't even comparable. The Rose now was filled with a sort of motherly love that made her shine with an inner glow (though they gagged internally at using such girly adjectives), and this was not something that could be replicated by anyone, or anything. Looking at her aura, Adrian could see it glowing like the sun. The only time he had ever seen anything like it was on that long ago trip to the ski lodge with Dimitri. He hated to admit it, but even when they were together, she never shined so brightly or effortlessly.

"They were all little angels today, _kuzen_," Rasheeda said quietly from the doorway, looking on in quiet satisfaction at the loving family scene. This was why the Elite trained so hard; it wasn't just a duty to them (even the non-Mazur Guardians thought so too), it was to preserve this – precious family. Everyone in the Mazur clan was family; from the lowliest job of cook or gardener, all the way to the clan Matriarch, the blessed Lady Fatma. They would never turn on each other, as they had sworn a Blood Oath to family to never betray the clan – this in turn ensured that the clan members rarely, almost never turned Strigoi by choice. The unlucky few who did, well, you can just imagine what happened to them for breaking the sacred oath to family.

"Aren't you guys supposed to go to the park today?" Rasheeda asked, as it was a sort of little family ritual for Rose to bring the children to the nearby park for an afternoon free of the duty and obligations that came with being the only heiress to the Mazur clan, or her other alternate persona's lives.

"Can we, Mama?" David pleaded on behalf of his siblings. As the eldest, he was the designated spokesperson for their little band of three, with Mikhail acting as his deputy and Teagan as the princess that they had to protect at all costs. She was the youngest; and the only girl at that. Even _Dede_ told them that their sister was to be cherished and defended as a princess of the clan should be.

"Okay, let's go to the park, but I want you all bundled up nice and snug, so none of you catch a cold or anything worse, alright?" their mother said half sternly, half jokingly, expecting nothing but obedience on this matter from her brood. Three vigorous nods later, the family of four moved upstairs; the children went to change into little jackets and hoodies and boots, while the mother was there to supervise the whole process. You could never be too careful nowadays after all.

The two men watched the procession with no small amount of humour and amusement. "Can you imagine? The great Rose Hathaway, a mother hen of the highest degree." Christian said amusedly.

"No, never, not in a million years. I always imagined her to be like those Valkyries of old, fighting Strigoi left, right and centre." Adrian replied, greatly amused. He was not the Adrian of old; he too had changed a lot in the last few years. After meeting Sydney again, he strived to better himself so that he could be the better man/choice for the Alchemist. He cut down on his drinking and smoking, which coincidentally was also for the sake of Rose's kids. He never imagined, in all his years; that he would change so much, for two such different women.

"I still remember the prank that you three played on the whole school for the last month leading up to graduation. The look on Dimitri's face, that was priceless." Christian added, reminiscing on those long gone years. He snickered, remembering the dumb-struck expression on the usually expressionless Guardian's face.

"How is dear old Dimitri, by the way? I hear that he is still guarding Princess Vasilisa, which is an arduous task in and of itself, what with the leeches trailing after her, now that Aunt Tatiana is grooming her to be the next Queen," Adrian asked, leaning against the wall as they waited for Rose and the kids.

"He's the same old Dimitri, the perfect Guardian as always. But I don't really mix with that crowd, you know that Adrian." Christian chided lightly. "Not with those leeches around. They look down on my family enough as it is. No need to give them more ammunition."

"Don't look so down, my friend. They'll get their own someday, mark my words about it," his friend said wisely. Just then, Rose and the kids walked into the room. As per her earlier words, the three adorable cherubs were bundled tightly in matching designer jackets and parkas, with fluffy hats perched on their heads. Rose herself had changed to match the children, earning happy grins from her kids as they were always very happy when their attire 'matched' their mothers'.

"All right, my darlings, what did I say you should not do when we're outside?" Rose turned to her children for one last dress rehearsal of the do's and don'ts in public.

"We must stay with you or Uncle Adrian and Uncle Christian at all times. We must not talk to strangers, and we cannot accept anything from them. And most importantly, we must behave properly 'cause we are good boys and girls, and only good children get bedtime stories." The children recited solemnly, as they knew this song and dance by heart.

"But what if I wanna jump and play today?" Mikhail whined after that, his brother nodding his head vigorously beside him.

"Yeah Mama, what if I want Uncle Adrian to make me fly again?" David seconded, quivering in excitement just imagining the 'flying' games that were to come.

"Can I just sit with you, Mama?" Teagan voiced timidly, still shy in front of others that were not family after all this time.

"My loves, of course you can do anything you want, but you mustn't wander too far," Rose said lovingly, but in her eyes were balls of fire directed at the two hapless men who were going to accompany her. They said 'look after my kids, or else'. Both men knew exactly what a pissed off Rose was capable of, so they immediately nodded their assent. After the prerequisite fussing over boots and scarves, the trio of adults and three children set off to the park.

* * *

"Uncle Adrian, let me fly, let me fly!" came the enthusiastic shouting of a little boy. An identical voice was yelling, "Mama, come play the leaves with me!"

A vision of familial bliss came sauntering around the corner, causing the inhabitants of the park situated at the higher end of town to stop and stare, whether discretely or not so discretely. A beautiful blond was being tugged forward to play with the large pile of autumn leaves by an adorable little boy, while his (definitely) twin brother was perched high above the shoulders of a handsome brunette, yelling about flying. Another eye-catching brunette man was holding an angelic little girl in his arms, and judging by their almost identical icy blue eyes, this was his daughter with the blond (the features of mother and daughter were similar, except for the eyes and hair). The twin boys shared a similar look with the other brunette, so the other park goers immediately assumed that they were his and the blonds'.

"Mama, look at me. I'm flying!" David shouted gleefully. His twin brother, not to be left out, let go of his mother and went over to Christian, tugging on his pants to intimate that he wanted to 'fly' too. Christian released Teagan to Rose, and promptly made Mikhail 'fly', which soon devolved into a reckless of game of 'chicken' with Adrian and David.

Teagan, whom was very shy by nature, simply clung to her mother's long jacket, content to watch her brother having fun. However, Rose didn't want her to feel left out, so proceeded to distract her by braiding a flower chain and flower crown for the both of them, before solemnly crowning her the 'Princess of flowers' and showering her with the yellowed leaves that were in a pile.

Teagan was giggling at her silly Mama, and showered her with some leaves too. Soon, both mother and daughter were dancing and playing in the leaf pile, oblivious to the awed looks that the other park goers were giving them. After all, it was not every day that one saw a family playing that looked like they were actually shooting a commercial for autumn.

* * *

Today was not Tom Black's day.

First thing, he was late getting to work today, as the lift in his apartment had broken down the night before and he just missed the bus to work. Then, he had been splashed by a passing taxi on the way to lunch with his girlfriend, and then he had been dumped by said girlfriend for not paying enough attention to her 'emotional needs'. On the way back to work, he had accidentally rammed into the Chief Editor of his newspaper, spilling hot coffee over his expensive suit, making the guy very angry, who then proceeded to fire him from his job.

So now, he was walking past the high end parks in New York, hoping to score on the celebrities and politicians that lived there, but not really anticipating much. Perhaps the picture of an old money screwing his children's nanny when the wife was away, which would help a bit as his utilities and rent needed paying. Then, he stumbled onto gossip gold.

Fumbling with his trusty camera in his haste, his fingers went mad clicking away at the scenes he was witnessing with his own two eyes. He literally hit the jackpot this time.

Any news on celebrities in this town was great, but an inside scoop on the hidden life of the elusive Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur was pure gold. And it was such an explosive news item too! Well, his boss would have to hire him back after this. Or maybe he could sell this story to the highest bidder!

Hah! Take that Chief Editor! Tom could just imagine the money rolling into his account now…

* * *

"Come on, David, Mikhail, time to go home," Rose called for her two wayward sons, whom were still chasing each other around the park, after tiring out their uncles. They reluctantly stopped what they were doing and bounded back to their mother, throwing themselves into her arms and snuggling deep, nearly dislodging their sister, whom was drowsing by her side. Much more carefully now, they surrounded their mother and sister, including her in their impromptu snuggle. This made many nannies and mothers around the park coo at the adorable picture before their eyes.

Not too long after that, Adrian and Christian bundled up the tiring little boys in their arms, as their mother did for their sister. Then, the picture perfect family left as suddenly as they arrived, leaving many feeling suddenly bereft, but with no idea why they felt it so.

Meanwhile, after the walk home, Rose bid her two friends goodbye, and thanked them for coming over and visiting, making her children's day brighter in the process. Then, she cajoled and bribed some dinner (sandwiches and milk) into her kid's tummies, before bathing them and putting them to bed.

"Can we have a long story tonight, Mama?" David yawned. He might be feeling a little sleepy, but he still wanted a good night story from his mommy.

"A story filled with adventure, Mama?" Mikhail pleaded, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. He just loved stories with dragons and knights.

"May I have the story 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon', mommy? Teagan asked quietly, her blankie already secured around her wrist. She was tucked in between her brothers, as they had always slept thus, her brothers acting as silent sentinels in the night.

"Yeah, let's hear that story, Mama." The boys clamoured to fulfil every whim and wish of their beloved sister.

"Alright, let's see. The story starts like this. 'Once upon a time there was a poor peasant who had so many children that he did not have enough of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty children they all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter, who was so lovely there was no end to her loveliness…'" Rose started the fairy tale, but not even half way through, her three children were fast asleep. Guess the park really tired them out, she mused to herself.

Stretching to get the kinks out of her back, she headed to the master suite, smiling at her favourite cousin of all time (Rasheeda) as she bid her good night. They didn't need to worry about Strigoi, burglars or god forbid, nosy neighbours after hours. The wards around the house were intensive, and nothing had got through in all the years that the Mazur clan had resided there. So, not needing to keep watch; she and her Guardian (ironic, right?) went to bed early too, so that they would be ready to face the new day tomorrow.

None of them knew the bombshell that was about to be dropped yet.

* * *

**Meanings of words used:**

_Kiz_ – Turkish for 'daughter' (pronounced as _cuz_)

_Kizim_ – Turkish for 'my daughter' (pronounced as _cuz + zim_)

_Piç_ – Turkish for 'bastard' (pronounced as _peach_)

_Büyükanne_ – Turkish for 'grandmother' (pronounced as _byu + kan + ne_)

_Mazur kizi_ – Turkish for 'daughter of Mazur (pronounced as _Ma + zur cuz + zi_)

_Torun_ – Turkish for 'granddaughter' (pronounced as _cho + rune_)

_oğlum_ – Turkish for 'son' (pronounced as _oh + lum_)

_Kuzen_ – Turkish for 'cousin' (pronounced as _coo + zan_)

_Dede _– Turkish for 'grandfather' (pronounced as _deh + deh_)

* * *

AN: This is the next installment of my story. I don't feel as hyped about this chapter as the previous one, but it is still an accomplishment for me. Please stick around for the next chapter of the story.


	3. Vivid vision with a dash of Trouble

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

**AN: Shout out to guest Hazel who took the time to correct me on the Turkish word that I used. Thanks Hazel! I went back and did the corrections, but it is just a minor thing, so you guys who have already read chapters 1 & 2 can just ignore it.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Vivid visions with a dash of Trouble**

"_Dimitri. Where are you?" Rose's voice came drifting over the wind. It sounded as if it were both far and near at the same time._

_Dimitri, who had been reading one of his favoured westerns at the time as he lounged on the bed, sat bolt upright as he heard the voice of the only woman that he had ever loved echo throughout the room. He dropped the book by the bed, almost tearing out of the room as he chased after the sound that had been haunting his dreams for the last six years._

_He stumbled his way out, not really noticing as the scenery around him changed to that of a sunny garden ringed by a white picket fence, which in turn were ringed by massive trees out further from the garden. In the distance, he could make out a pond, the waters of which were shimmering invitingly in the sunlight. He looked around franticly, searching almost desperately for the owner of the voice._

_The sound of laughter came from behind him, just as a pair of soft hands covered his eyes, before a voice said next to his ear, "guess who?"_

_Dimitri gripped the hands over his eyes tightly, never wanting to let go. "Roza," he breathed her name like a prayer, a whispered plea to God that had been finally answered._

"_Comrade, what's the matter? I'm not going anywhere, I'm home now," Rose sighed softly, letting go of his eyes and hugging him from behind, her head just barely touching his shoulder blades._

_Dimitri relished in the feel of his Roza; her touch as light as feathers, her scent as fragrant as that of the roses she was named after. He had missed this, in all the years that she was gone; none had ever come as close to him as her, and none ever would. He couldn't wait any longer to see her beautiful face, so turned around in her embrace and finally, at long last gazed upon the features that stilled the breath in his lungs._

_She was still as beautiful as ever._

_Her hair was still that dark brown that he loved, but he could see how it turned to look almost pitch black under the sun. It was longer now, reaching her waist in a riot of curls and waves that just begged him to entwine his hands in. Her brown eyes were staring up at him with a soft look in her eyes that he had rarely seen, as the times they had had to be alone were few and far between, so long ago._

"_I've missed you," she said plainly, blunt Rose style all the way even when expressing her feelings._

"_I've missed you so much, my Roza," Dimitri said fervently, cupping both her cheeks. "You don't know how much I have longed to hear your voice telling me that for the last six years. The moment I said those words, I regretted it immediately. But at the time, I thought that pushing you away from me would be the safest thing for you. I had already hurt you enough as it is."_

_She kissed the fingers cupping her face. "Dimitri, it was such a long time ago. What had happened when you were Strigoi does not matter. You were not yourself at the time."_

"_No, I was still myself. Yet I did those unforgivable things to you, taking away the only thing pure and sacred that you have ever offered to me…" he couldn't go on, tears dripping from his eyes._

"_Shh, it's okay." She stood on tiptoes to whisper right in his ear. "I forgive you."_

_That's when the dam broke. All the emotions that Dimitri had been keeping frozen inside came pouring out in one huge torrent, breaking through the icy wall of the Guardian façade that he had put up against the rest of the world. He grabbed her in a desperate hug, clinging to her as if his very life depended on it as deep, broken sobs erupted from within his massive frame. Rose held onto him just as tightly, silent tears streaming down her face as she let him release all the pent up emotions from his breast._

_Long moments later, they separated in mutual, silent accord, but not for long. Dimitri finally released his six year-long drought of emotions, and it left him feeling light headed and dizzy. One could almost forgive him for wanting to fill himself up with positive emotions again. So, in a moment of weakness, he kissed her._

_For a moment, the earth itself seemed to have stood still. Nature held its' breath, waiting for the woman to give a sign, make a move, do anything to indicate whether she consented to this sudden invasion of body space or not. Then, she snaked her hands into his hair, and started to kiss him back._

_The kiss started out slow and tentative, just like two teens learning to kiss for the first time. Lips brushed and swept over each other, leaving whisper soft indentations in its wake. The tempo changed abruptly when both participants realised that the other was not going to leave. Kisses became bolder nips and licks, and it wasn't just centred around the mouth alone. Neck, cheeks, forehead, ears; no where was left safe, left unplundered._

_Their breaths feathered each others' necks and cheeks, changing from light and soft to hard and heavy within minutes. Their touches that had started out lightly; soon became steely gropes, as neither Rose nor Dimitri was willing to let go of the other. Both dhampirs were vying for supremacy in the age old dance of dominance, and Dimitri, with his larger strength and greater experience, was clearly winning in this particular fight._

_Almost simultaneously, Rose and Dimitri knelt down in the grass as they kissed, as if their very minds were in sync. He slowly pushed her backwards, until her back was lying on the fragrant carpet of daisies that he had unconsciously been backing her to. Somewhere along the way, between their desperate yet tentative touches and kisses, he had lost his shirt while her dress had been whipped off her shoulders and lay abandoned near their feet. They helped each other to shed the last of their coverings in their bid to be touching skin to skin again after all this while, until finally they were both as bare as the day they had been born._

_Dimitri's ministrations then took a turn for the leisurely. Slowly, unhurriedly, he mapped out the contours of Rose's body, something which he hadn't had the chance to do the first time around, nor did he think to do the second time that he had lain with her. Each valley, each dip, each peak; he mapped out as if he were a blind man reading Braille, and he was seeing the light of day for the first time in his life. Every sigh and moan that slipped from her lips were savoured as if they were the songs of angels, and he explored her body further, just so that he could hear the intriguing sounds that she would make with each new territory that he explored._

_He brought her to a peak just by that exploration alone, and he still wasn't satisfied. He wanted, no, needed to know what made her tick, and what made her…explode._

_When they finally joined as one, Rose was one giant quivering mess; having come so many times in her fleeting introduction to the pleasures of the flesh that she didn't think was possible. Despite being a mature young woman in other ways, in this she was still almost as innocent as a babe, innocence that Dimitri was doing his best to corrupt to the dark side._

_They came together again and again, taking on various positions that Dimitri had fantasised trying with Rose ever since the first time he had set eyes on his exotic desert princess. On the ground, on all fours, against a tree, with her wrapped around him, in the water; whatever his devious mind could think up of, they tried it, all. All time seemed to stand still as the lovers partook of this feast of the flesh. The moans and groans of the lovers reverberated around the clearing, providing a symphony to the love making between them. Cries of exultation, interspersed with grunts and groans rang through the air, testament to the education on the horizontal tango that Dimitri was subjecting Rose to._

_It was hours later before she finally declared a cease fire. Dimitri had most definitely won this round of the dance, and the round before that, and the rounds before that too. Breathlessly, she tumbled to the ground on the makeshift bed of their clothes, her limbs too tired to hold her up in spite of her dhampir strength. He had worn her out._

_As she lay drowsing on the ground, he pulled her closer into his embrace, relishing the feel of her in his arms again. The feel would never get old. He had lost her once, all due to his own pride and stupidity, and he wouldn't lose her like that, ever again._

"_Did you know that I was so scared all those years ago when your bond to Princess Vasilisa broke? She was walking to class, when she suddenly doubled over clutching her chest and complaining of intense pain. When after a couple of days of constant, escalating pain, she suddenly broke down screaming your name, I almost died?" he sighed heavily into her ear._

_There was no reply from the woman in his arms as he continued. "I thought that you were gone from this world, gone because I wasn't there to protect you. But you don't need to worry anymore. I'm strong enough to protect you now," he promised._

"_Are you truly strong enough, Comrade?" she whispered, reluctantly turning around from their spooning position to face him. "Strong enough to protect me from all the dangers that await us down the line?" she queried, cupping his face. Worry shone through her eyes._

_Dimitri never wanted to see that emotion on her face again. He wanted her to be always happy and worry free, no matter how impossible that might be. But here, with just the two of them, he would strive to make it so. Pulling her fingers to his lips and kissing each one individually, he answered her. "I may not be a god, but I will always protect you. And now, we can finally be together, as we should have all those years ago. I hadn't been ready then, not here," he motioned to his head, "nor here," his heart, "but I am now."_

"_You are my own personal Russian god, Dimitri." Rose said teasingly. Kissing him on the lips, she whispered right against it, "I love you, my Comrade."_

"_And I, you, my Roza." He replied, taking over the kiss again, intending to steer it in the direction of their previous few hours, but she had other ideas. Slipping nimbly out of his arms, she snagged her dress from the ground and slipped it over her head, backing to a corner of the garden teasingly._

"_No more hanky-panky, comrade." she grinned to soften the blow. "How are we supposed to start over together if I haven't even had the chance to explore our new home yet?" she queried, tilting her head cutely. Dimitri reluctantly got up after her, shucking on his pants and leaving his shirt behind so that he could have more of the skin contact that he craved with her. Silently wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he steered her in the direction of the house as he intended to show her the layout of their future home._

"_Can you show me the lands first, Dimitri?" she pleaded. And since her pleads were a weakness he had long regretted denying, he turned back around towards the forest that bordered their property. He showed her where the rabbit burrow that bordered their fence was, then where other creatures of nature lived and hunted in the forest as he laid out their home to her. They were dhampirs after all, and it paid to be cautious, no matter how secure or remote the location of their home was. After that, he proceeded to show her the traps he had laid and wards that he had called in favours for placement._

_The passage of time was finally felt by both of them when they realised that dusk had fallen. They were already on the way home by then, but years of training had honed the instinct to head for cover once twilight set in. The walk was still leisurely, and there was no warning before danger erupted._

_A couple of blurs shot out of the trees just beyond the wards of their home, slamming into the both of them. A huge figure rode Dimitri to the ground, or at least tried to, but ended up tangling with the deadly Guardian. Meanwhile, Rose engaged the other figure in a vicious fist fight, which alternated between Rose and the other gaining advantage over each other._

"_Figures, Strigoi would attack us as we are going home." Rose huffed angrily, giving a vicious kick to the stomach of the Strigoi attacking her, momentarily gaining some breathing room._

"_Focus, Roza. There might be more of them out there," Dimitri cautioned, wishing desperately for a stake to make the job easier. He should have been more prepared, he should have anticipated something like this. They were dhampirs, meaning that they were choice prey for these monsters. And they were known Guardians to boot, making them even juicier targets._

_Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. As the desperate Guardians had been slowly luring the Strigoi back towards the warded property, two other Strigoi emerged from the shadows that they had been lurking in to come up behind the group. One was a red headed female, the other though…_

"_Boris." Dimitri hissed from between his teeth. He knew this particular Strigoi to be more dangerous than the rest, so without thinking, he manoeuvred himself to stand between him and Rose. His unconscious action proved to be their downfall. Through some unspoken signal, all four Strigoi rushed the dhampirs at the same time, succeeding in separating them. A furious fight broke out, but in the end, Rose was caught in Boris' grasp._

"_Hello again, Dimitri," he sneered, keeping one hand grasped around Rose's neck as the other wrapped across her torso to pull her against his body. "Who's this we have here? Your girlfriend?" he leered at Rose, purposely grabbing her breasts to piss Dimitri off. The tactic worked; Dimitri lunged forward, but was not able to move as he was restrained by the others._

"_Oho, touched a nerve eh? Let's see what you'll do if we drink from your little dhampir?" Boris said, plunging his fangs into Rose's neck and drinking sloppily from her, letting rivulets of blood flow down her chest and soak into her dress, turning the pristine white a bloody mess. Dimitri could only watch in horror as the light of life slowly drained from her eyes._

"_No! Stop it, Boris! Let her go!" he screamed, struggling futilely. As he dropped her lifeless body to the ground, Dimitri finally managed to break free._

Then, he woke up. It was just a dream, a very vivid, life-like dream.

Going to the bathroom attached to his room, Dimitri turned the tap to cold and let the water fill the basin. He splashed his face several times to freshen up and wash the remnants of the dream from his mind. Looking at the mirror, a familiar yet foreign face looked back.

He had matured over the years. His face had become harder, more chiselled, yet it also looked more haunted too. His muscles had filled out a bit more, and due to the constant training he subjected himself to (so as to distract himself from remembering _her_), there was hardly anywhere on his body that wasn't pure muscle now. This was especially turning out to be a good thing, what with Princess Vasilisa now being one of the royal Moroi groomed to take over the throne after Queen Tatiana announced that she would be stepping down.

As he was doing a reflection on his life so far, klaxons suddenly started blaring to life around the compound.

"This is not a drill. Guardians, we are under an attack by a large group of Strigoi. It is centred at the south side of the compound, near the Moroi apartments. Please proceed to your battle stations and your charges as quickly as possible. I repeat, this is not a drill." A calm voice called over the P.A system to the Court. Dimitri had already donned his battle gear and left his room by the end of the announcement.

All over the Court, Guardians were scrambling to get to the South side, either to join the Guardians their in battle, or to get to their charges that were residing there. For Dimitri, it was both, as the princess and a lot of the royals were staying in that wing of Court.

Reaching the South wing, he could see some injured and dead Guardians. He ignored his fellow Guardians, as he had to get to Princess Vasilisa first. He found her just inside the doors of her apartment, holding a silver stake to her breast. He nodded in satisfaction, good, the princess remembered the lessons that he had taught her. Silver stakes could at least injure a Strigoi, no matter how slightly.

"Dimitri, you're here," Lissa breathed in relief.

"We're not out of the woods yet, princess," Dimitri cautioned. He motioned her to follow him, after checking that the outside was relatively clear. "Follow me closely. It's more dangerous out there," he added.

"We need to get to the Healing wing. I'll be needed there, to help," she insisted.

"Then we should go this way. It is faster." They proceeded to move as stealthily possible from the apartment, but half way down, they encountered trouble. It came in the form of a large group of Strigoi that had cornered a couple of Moroi, no older than teenagers. They were all with family for the school break, and then to have this happen. Life sucked, literally.

"Hey guys, more flesh bags for us to suck," random Strigoi A sneered, alerting their whole group to the presence of the other two. Dimitri cursed under his breath; more Moroi to protect, with his own charge here to boot.

"Lissa, when I say duck, you duck, got it?" he whispered hurriedly to the princess. Luckily, she knew the procedure for these kinds of things, and followed his every lead. Assessing the situation, he made the call.

"Now, princess!" he shouted, at which Lissa dropped like a rock, making herself less of a target while Dimitri leaped into motion. He made a flying leap to the group in front, tackling the largest Strigoi there while letting two stakes fly out of his hands and into the chests of two others. What happened next was a flurry of kicks and spins and punches, with each side getting punches in. Fuelled by his earlier nightmare, Dimitri was even more determined to exterminate these scum. The Moroi he had to save would be saved; no one else was going to die on his watch.

It was over less than a minute or so later. The Moroi were just banged up, and Lissa was practically unharmed. The same couldn't be said for the Strigoi. They were lying in various positions around the hall, all staked through the heart. After collecting his stakes back, he continued to lead the Moroi to safety, which incidentally was the Healing wing, as it had the strongest wards around it.

The whole attack lasted a mere hour, yet they had lost at least 15 Guardians and another 32 more were injured. Those lost were mostly overwhelmed in the initial wave, before reinforcements arrived. Some died protecting their charges, as did about 5 Moroi. More Moroi were injured in the stampede for safety, as they didn't really expect an attack this near to dawn, or directly at Court. The Strigoi were getting bolder.

* * *

"The Strigoi problem is getting more and more out of hand. They are becoming bolder as the years go by." Queen Tatiana said angrily. Even in anger, she kept her composure and poise. She was the ruling monarch, and she had to act like it.

"Yes, they have been testing us more and more. Just last week, a group of Moroi outside for an outing were ambushed just as they were leaving the wards of their home. Luckily, the Guardians assigned were quick to rescue all their charges." Captain of the Court Guardians, Hans Croft reported.

"We must do something about this," Lady Ozera, Tasha to those close to her, said angrily. She was one of the council called by the queen to discuss what to do about the growing Strigoi problem.

"We can lower the age of Guardian acceptance," some other Moroi councilman suggested. This was met with a wave of murmuring and muttering. It was an issue that many Moroi did not agree with. If they lowered the acceptance age, then the Guardians sent out would be more, but they would have less experience, and likely to be killed the first time they engage a Strigoi in a fight. But they needed more Guardians, which made it a lose-lose situation for all.

"I would like to bring up the issue of letting Moroi join in the fight against Strigoi," another councilman started, but was cut off by Lord Nathan Ivashkov, the Queen's nephew.

"Not this issue again, Lord Szelsky. You know the council's stand on this." The senior councilman stated, he and the others not noticing as Lissa and Dimitri crept into the room. They had just left the Healing wing, and were notified of this emergency council meeting. So, here they were, listening to the elders arguing back and forth.

"Why not, Lord Ivashkov? I too, agree with this thought. A lot of Moroi are getting restless at not knowing how to defend themselves, and they don't like to be lambs led to the slaughter either." Tasha added her own two cents; her opinions on this issue were well known throughout Court.

"Only uncivilized and idiotic Moroi would think to demean themselves by joining the fight," he sniffed, looking down his nose at Lady Ozera.

"That is an insult to a lot of the Moroi, Lord Ivashkov!" another Moroi roared. "Take that back, you cur!" Accusations and insults began to fly across the council room, as people started to get heated up about the issues they were supposed to be discussing in a civil manner. The room descended into chaos, and Queen Tatiana just watched with a serene look on her face, as if eager to let them come to blows. The sudden slamming of the council door startled every Moroi and Guardian within into battle readiness, as they knew no one would simply barge into the chamber unless a dire situation occurred.

A page (another Moroi) was bent over by the door, clutching a piece of paper to his chest as he caught his breath.

"What is the matter? Has there been another attack?" Tatiana questioned, the true glint of her anger and power leaking through her eyes.

"It's worse, your Majesty." The page squeaked, waving the paper in his hands.

"Bring it to us, page." The queen commanded, an order the page scrambled to comply with. He weaved his way through the other Moroi in the room, keeping the paper close to his chest so that the queen would be the first to see this shocking news.

The queen calmly accepted the piece of paper, and then her eyes widened imperceptibly at the headlines splashed across the paper. To those that guarded the queen or knew her well, that was tantamount to enormous shock. It was enough to rattle quite a few people. The pictures that accompanied the article didn't help matters much either.

"Your majesty, what is it?" Nathan Ivashkov drew the queen out of her not inconsiderable shock.

"Nathan, Tasha, tell me that you knew something about this?!" she questioned angrily, shaking the piece of paper in her hand. Some poor soul decided to do the room a favour and slipped the paper into the ancient overhead projector in the chamber. Instantly, the piece of paper was enlarged on the screen at the side of the room.

It was an article plucked from the human newspapers with a series of pictures attached to it. The headlines however were puzzling to the roomful of Moroi; "Love children of famous international model" it read. What did the love children of a human model have to do with two Royal Moroi families? The pictures though, explained the queen's ire perfectly.

They were a series of shots of the blonde model, whom was admittedly beautiful (for a human), but it was the two men with her that caught the eye of every Moroi and Guardian in the room. It was a photo of the model, with Adrian Ivashkov, the next lord in line to the Ivashkov family, and also the current Ozera lord, Lord Christian Ozera, together with three children in each of their arms. The children were a pair of twin boys and another little girl, whom bore a great resemblance to their model mother. However, the little boys looked a bit like the next Lord Ivashkov, and the unmistakable icy blue eyes of the little girl heralded her relation to the current Lord Ozera.

The pictures showed them to be in a park of some sort, and it was very obviously a family outing. They were shown in various familial activities, and the intimate scenes where the model brushed the dirt from both men's faces showed how familiar they were with the human woman.

"This is a travesty!" one of the councilwomen exclaimed, fumed on behalf of the Moroi women and even dhampir women who were better suited to bear the children of the esteemed Moroi men.

"It's not possible for Moroi to have children with humans." Lord Ivashkov insisted calmly, a steely note in his voice that belied his true anger.

"Then what is this?" Lord Szelsky took the opportunity to taunt the other Moroi. "Those features cannot lie. They are proof of the wild oats that your son has sowed, with a human no less, miraculous as that is."

"Yes, yes, don't forget that long ago Moroi had had relations with humans and produced the dhampir race." Another voice piped in. This sparked hushed discussions and murmurs in the room.

"My Christian would never do something like this." Tasha Ozera said vehemently. She knew her nephew well, and he would never bring shame to the family, not after what his parents did.

"Those icy blue eyes of the little girl say otherwise." The previous councilwoman jeered. Tasha swung her head around to glare at said councilwoman, and accidentally caught sight of Lissa in the corner, her eyes round in sadness and reluctantly growing resignation.

"Princess Vasilisa," she breathed, which swung the attention of the room to the princess. It was an open secret that the princess and Lord Ozera were in the process of patching things up, after their fall out six years prior.

Tatiana saw the despair in Lissa's eyes, which hardened her resolve for her.

"Lord Ivashkov, Lady Ozera, summon your charges home. Order them to bring along the human woman and her children. We will clear up this matter once and for all," Queen Tatiana ordered. The two family heads involved nodded their heads in acquiescence. She then turned to face the page.

"We want a royal order sent out to all the Moroi families' residing outside Court. They are to report their family's state of affairs and then by the end of next week, I want all Moroi and their Guardians to be brought to Court. We are to hold a meeting to decide the fate of our people then." The queen decreed. Said page nodded his head hurriedly, jotting down every single word of the decree to be sent out to the Moroi world wide.

"This session of the council is dismissed." The monarch rose from her seat and left the room, leaving much discussion in her wake. Discretely, she sent one of her most loyal to check on the Princess Vasilisa, as she was rather fond of the young woman. She was also not unaware of the feelings that the princess still held for Lord Ozera. Also, her nephew was another matter all together. It was almost like the Guardian Hathaway, then Novice Hathaway, situation all over again. Except this time it was worse. Children had gotten involved.

* * *

Lissa couldn't believe the article; she didn't want to believe the article. She vehemently quashed any feeling of self-pity that flared up in her at the sight of the incriminating pictures. She wasn't deluding herself, instead she was choosing to believe the man that she had fallen in love with, and that she hoped to spend the rest of her life with.

She barely felt as her Guardian led her out of the chamber. So lost in her thoughts, she only registered the change in her surroundings when she was once again ensconced in the familiar hallways of the Healing wing.

"Thank you for taking me here, Dimitri," she said quietly. Despite being away from the pictures, they seemed seared into her memory, leaping out at her eyes wherever she seemed to look.

"It is my duty to protect you, princess, even if it may be from yourself," came the answer from her Guardian. He had become her pillar of strength these last few years, since Rose was not by her side anymore, and especially when her bond with her had been ripped away by means unknown.

"You should rest here tonight, princess. Let the repairs and cleaning of the South apartments be done first before you return home," he insisted. Lissa was too tired to bother arguing, and just lay down on the nearest empty cot, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The whole night had become a draining affair.

* * *

Dimitri couldn't help but feel that tonight was a turning point of sorts in all their lives. The attack alone had roused the long buried warrior blood that the Moroi had eons ago, when history told of them fighting side by side with their dhampir Guardians. It was only in the recent (meaning few hundred) years that that side of theirs had been buried deep to give way to the now indolent, lazy breed of Moroi.

Historically, Moroi had trained as hard as the dhampirs, which made the dhampirs train harder to keep up with their Moroi brethren's speed and agility. They had been great once, but now only a handful of the dhampir believed in this, with the Elite of the Mazur family being one of the best Guardians to date, bar the Blood Masters.

Maybe this meant that the Moroi were beginning to reconsider bringing back some of the older Ways that had seemed to have fallen out of favour and into obscurity. He himself would certainly encourage this new way of thought. It meant that Guardians would have to undergo tougher training, which would ensure more Guardians survived, whereas the Moroi would finally relearn to save themselves, so that the future of their people was made brighter in the long run.

There was no more sleep for him tonight. He had much to plan and think about, starting with this human woman and her children that were definitely going to throw the entire court into chaos.

* * *

AN: Please stick around for the next instalment. More action and drama is to come. Maychelle out


	4. Chaos of the storm

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Chaos of the storm**

Rose was woken in the early morning by the ring tone that she had designated for her father. The sound of "Papa Don't Preach" by Madonna emanated from her mobile, and Rose blearily rooted around for it on her nightstand.

"Hello?" she answered, after discretely clearing her throat of course. It wouldn't do to let the old man know that he had caught her unawares, despite all the training she had gone through. But she was in her human guise for now, and it was six thirty a.m. local time. She had earned her little holiday, damn it.

"_Kiz_, are you watching the news right now?" her father's smooth voice came over the receiver, bearing a certain watchful edge to it that immediately woke her up.

"No, old man, I was doing something else when you rang," she replied. "What's on the news that has got you so worked up?" she asked as she went to switch on the local station. "I don't see any headliner that screams 'Danger, need to pay attention!'" she snarked.

"Open the entertainment channel," was the brusque reply.

"Entertainment?" she asked in bewilderment. Since when did the old man watch entertainment? But, she did obediently turn to the appropriate channel, and waited for whatever breaking news story that was on. Then, she saw it.

"Shit, old man. How did they get these photos?" she hissed, hackles rising as the photos of her outing with Adrian and Christian were splashed across the screen. She hastily switched on her laptop, and saw the same pictures splashed across the web as well. What really made her blood boil though were the pictures of her children that were being touted as her love children with multiple men. They could say anything about her, or her friends – they were all grownups and they could take the pressure, but involving her children in these scandalous allegations? Unforgivable.

"We need to do damage control, _baba_." She said, reverting to the teachings of her grandmother when she knew that things were getting out of control. She knew by now that the vultures that were tabloid reporters and paparazzi would have sniffed the blood in the water and be circling around the agency where she worked (which incidentally belonged to her father), and also her official 'home' in New York. They would be dangerous in pursuit of this story, and also in ferreting out more of the so-called juicy details of the entire thing, which meant that they would go to any lengths to get the story of their life-time.

This registered as one thing, and one thing alone in Rose's red-hazed mind. They meant her children harm.

"Rose, I want you and the kids to come back to the Citadel. It will be safer here. We will issue the statement via the agency." The order came from the _Klan Başkanı_ Mazur, not Abe, her easy-going (to her) old man. It was an order than none dared to disobey.

"Yes, _Klan Başkanı_." Obedience was offered immediately.

"I'll have my jet ready at the LaGuardia Airport in an hour. Be there with the children, and you'll be home within half a day. Then, we will call a family council to discuss this development and others that have popped up as well," this time it was the persona of Abe Mazur, doting _dede_ to the _torunlar_ of his daughter. He switched personas like changing clothes (meaning very rapidly), which explained how his daughter learned to do that as well. This also ensured that she knew that something bigger was afoot by the rapidity of his switch.

"What else is going on, old man?" she asked warily. "You wouldn't be this stern, unless something else has happened."

Ibrahim Mazur sighed through the phone receiver all the way in Istanbul. He had been at home on one of his rare holidays at the Citadel when he received the news from his spy at court. This was big news, and it involved the safety of his legacy and his family. He needed to answer it with full force.

"News of your children's existence has leaked to court." He said finally, knowing that to keep his daughter in the dark would only hurt her and their stable relationship in the long run.

Rose recoiled in shock when she heard those words. She had done her level best to keep her children from getting the limelight shone on them, either in the human world, or in the vampire world, but it seemed that their existence was finally uncovered; all by some stupid paparazzi intent on his next buck. It rankled her on all levels that she had actually let her guard slip so much.

"How much do they know, _baba_?" she queried. She needed to know what it was that the court knew so that their family could think of ways to counter it and keep her children's (and her) secret safe for much longer. At least until she could tell the truth to the one person whom she owed it to – Dimitri.

Abe proceeded to tell the entire sequence of events that had unfolded the previous night at court to his daughter. Together, as she went to rouse her sleepy children and ready them for the journey, they discussed some preliminary counter measures that they could offer the court to keep their claws out of the lives of the children (figuratively and literally).The Guardians that showed up at her back door half an hour later took over the packing and other things necessary for the return trip to Istanbul, while she and Rasheeda got her children and themselves ready.

People would wonder why she had a Guardian along with her (since she was one herself)?But the truth of the matter was she was only Lady Fatma's Guardian in name only, as the old lady had her own designated Elite Guardian. Rasheeda was _her_ Guardian, responsible for her and the children's safety, especially as she was the beloved daughter to their clan head Ibrahim, and also the only Heiress to the Mazur Clan. Her people would happily die for her, something she knew well and actively tried her best to avoid situations that could lead to that happening.

By the time an hour was up, the little family of four was ready to leave. From their window they could see a throng of paparazzi camped out on the sidewalk across from them, with more trickling in steadily. They must have found out the true location of her home, but from a call over to her 'official' home, she found out that the paparazzi were also there. Apparently, they were trying their luck at both places, so as to get maximum coverage and hopefully catch her unawares.

Luckily (or unluckily), it was the weekend. That meant that her schedule was clear, and she had called to postpone or cancel any further engagements until further notice (meaning when the situation was handled). But, that also meant that more people were home too, so a sizable crowd of curious onlookers had stopped to find out why exactly paparazzi were camped around their neighbourhood. Many had their hand phones out to take pictures and videos, hoping to catch anything interesting to share with their friends and family.

Rose looked over her children once more. To prevent anymore unwanted camera shots from being taken, her children wore parkas and even hats so that their faces were obscured. It might not be a long term situation, but it was enough for now. David wore a brown parka with random black lines over it, with matching dark coloured pants and little black coloured shoes. Mikhail was wearing a forest green parka that mimicked army fatigues, and he insisted on the matching hat, pants and boots that went with it. It made both her boys look like little army men.

Meanwhile, Teagan wore a miniature version of what Rose was wearing. A plum coloured cap sleeved shift dress with black tights and ballet flats in matching lighter purple, over which she wore a cream parka. Rose herself was in shades of beige and cream, with her parka being a much more subdued shade of light grey. The only thing striking about her was her red purse, inside of which she kept the kid's medication and other important things, including a couple of spare stakes, made to look harmless of course.

"Okay guys, I want you to hold each other's hands tight. David, Mikhail, don't let of each other no matter what and hold onto my hand and Auntie Rasheeda's when we're out there. Teagan, baby," at this she hefted the little girl into her arms, "you're with mommy now."

"Where are we going, Mama?" David asked stoically. He and Mikhail could sense the urgency in the air, which had heightened when the other uncles (note: Guardians) had arrived. He knew their faces, but they only came when something was happening.

"What's going on, Mama?" Mikhail questioned, equally grave. He too noticed that something was amiss, and Teagan had started shivering in her sleep just a couple of hours ago, which indicated that she could feel some bad vibes in the air.

"Remember when I told you that we need to keep you guys a secret for a while?" Rose said, hugging her shivering daughter tightly. Her kids nodded in answer. "Well, somebody took pictures of us yesterday when we were out with Uncle Adrian and Uncle Christian, without us knowing about it. Now a lot more people know about you guys, which means things are going to get more dangerous from now on." She didn't mince words with her children, they not only deserved the truth; they were also Mazur children. They had been raised to handle the pressure as good as any Moroi, perhaps even better.

"Is that why we are going to see _dede_, Mama?" Teagan questioned softly. She realised, from listening to her mommy's conversation with _dede_ that they were going back to their home.

"Yes, my little princess. We are all going to see _dede_ and _b__üyük büyükanne_. We are going home," Rose replied.

"_Varis_, it's time." One of the Guardians said, discretely indicating the time. Rose mentally prepared herself, holding her children tighter, before giving the go ahead. The Guardians opened the door, leading to an immediate storm of flashbulb lights and shouting.

"Rhiannon, are those really your kids?" one reporter shouted.

"Who's the father of the kids, Miss Mazur?" another shouted, trying to get his question in.

"Are you having an affair with two men at the same time, Rhiannon?" yet another journalist queried, hoping to get a rise out of the elusive model.

"No comment." Rasheeda said brusquely, acting as both Guardian and Rose's agent in the human world. The other Guardians cleared the way for Rose and her children, making sure that the jostling and pictures taken were kept to a minimum as they proceeded to the car that has just driven up the street.

"Where you going, Miss Mazur?" one intrepid paparazzo cried. "Are you running away, Rhiannon?"

"As I said, no comment. Now move it!" Rasheeda ordered. She and Rose had discussed it beforehand, and they agreed that the less said, the better, so all talking was left to Rasheeda. A Guardian rushed to open the car door, and David and Mikhail were lifted in first, before Rose and Teagan followed by Rasheeda entered. The rest of the Guardians piled into the cars that rolled in after the first car, and then they all set off. Destination – LaGuardia Airport.

* * *

The Court was in its own turmoil. The attack the previous night had shaken a lot of the Moroi, as they didn't expect to be attacked in their own turf, so to speak. The Court was a bastion of hope for all vampire kind, an unassailable stronghold that had withstood the passage of time, that had endured even during the Dark Ages of both human and vampire-kind, where Strigoi had run the known lands ragged by spreading like wild fire, which Moroi had later compelled the humans to call the Black Death, a plague of unknown origins. They could not afford the knowledge of their people leaking out to the masses. It would be another witch hunt all over again.

That was the heyday of Moroi-Guardian fighting teams. Moroi were essentially faster and more agile than their dhampir counterparts, and they could use magic to boot. However, they paid for it with much weaker endurance and health as compared to the dhampir, as the dhampir could battle for much longer intervals and they were immune to most human diseases and also the illnesses that plagued Moroi as well.

They had all followed the Olde Ways as well. Magic then had everything to do with life and death. Almost all their ward schemes then were done with all four elements of earth, fire, water and air, as well as spirit and also a little blood sacrifice, which constituted the death element. After all, every blood spilled was a little death. Their wards were stronger, which made for less unwanted home invasions by Strigoi.

Dhampir and Moroi numbers were more numerous then. The relations between the species were not looked down upon, as the more dhampir there were, the more the Moroi were protected. It was not unheard of for Bondings to happen between the species. Bondings were essentially the marriages between either species or between Moroi alone. The marriage ceremonies nowadays paled in comparison to the bondings then, as even the weakest bonding ensured at least the fidelity and safety of both partners in the bond, be they dhampir or Moroi.

Also, there were Oracles then. Oracles were considered the spiritual leaders then, not unlike the Church Fathers that they all had now, which they had adopted with the advent of Christianity for their own use. But they had some advantage over all other spiritual leaders, as they actually had contact with the higher powers that be. Five Moroi with highly attuned affinities to the five elements would reside in the Spirit House at Court, where they shared blood ritually and saw into the past, present and future. It was only during the reign of an ancient Dashkov that this practice and all others were banned, gradually of course. It was said that that Dashkov had many nefarious plans that the Oracles foresaw, and so he had them institutionalised or executed just to keep his plans secret.

The Oracles had cursed him and his line, and so many Dashkovs who came after were afflicted with Sandovsky's Syndrome or other such illnesses, which made them not so eligible for the crown, as who wanted a King or Queen that was slowly dying?

Now, many of the younger generations of Moroi and dhampir were secretly looking into the ancient history of vampire-kind, trying to find anything that predated the churches of nowadays, which spouted the rubbish the older Moroi at Court were espousing at alarming rate. They felt that something was missing in their lives, something that was more keenly felt than ever with the declining number of Moroi and dhampir, and the more numerous turning of Strigoi, whether voluntary or otherwise. They all felt that this was just the kick up the ass that the older generation at Court needed to jump start their waning awareness.

Dimitri himself was whole heartedly agreeing with this notion of the resurgence of the Olde Ways. However, he was now puzzling over the issue of the human model and her alleged children with Adrian Ivashkov and Christian Ozera. As far as he knew, Adrian was enamoured a human woman, an ex-Alchemist named Sydney Sage, whereas Christian _had_ been patching things up with his charge, Lissa. The model herself looked familiar, as if he had seen her before. His musings were cut short when his phone rang.

"Guardian Belikov speaking," he answered without looking at the indicator.

"Dimitri, it's your mother." His mothers' calm voice came over the line, distracting him from his thoughts.

"Mama, it's been a while. Did you hear the news?" he queried, internally worried for his family in Russia. They all lived in a commune, which didn't have as strong wards as here, which meant that they could be attacked at any time.

"Yes, we are all fine over here. Actually, your _babushka_ would like to talk to you," Olena said, getting to the heart of the conversation.

"Yeva?" Dimitri wondered. "Okay, put her on please, Mama." There was silence for a moment, before the aged voice of his grandmother came over the line.

"Dimitri, I have seen her." Yeva said abruptly.

"Who, _babushka_?" he queried.

"She who brings light, whom life and death go hand in hand, whom will be our destruction or our salvation." The old woman said gravely, her voice so deathly quiet that he had to strain to hear her.

"Who is this that you are talking about, Yeva?" Dimitri questioned in his Guardian Belikov tone. He might have reservations as to his grandmothers' predictions and feelings, but it wouldn't hurt to be alert about it. And this particular 'seeing' of hers sounded ominous. "_Babushka_, who is it you are referring to?" It was silent over the line, and then his mothers' voice was the one who answered him.

"_Babushka_ has gone back to her room, Dimitri. She said that there is nothing wrong with her and asked you to pass on her regards to Rose." Olena sighed, knowing that this topic was somewhat taboo with her son. He always clammed up when her name was mentioned.

"Just stay safe, Mama," he said, changing the subject immediately. "If anything happens, get to St. Basil's. They will have sufficient wards to keep the family safe."

"You too, my son. We will be fine over here. You don't need to worry about us; we will know when to move." Olena reassured her son, safe in the knowledge that Yeva would look out for them.

After some light conversation, in which he asked about his sisters and nephew and nieces, Dimitri put down his phone and went back to work. His heart was both lighter and darker after the conversation, especially as the ominous words of his grandmother did not bode well for the workings of Court. Who was this woman that could single-handedly destroy their way of life like that?

* * *

Both Adrian and Christian, whom were rooming together during their stay in New York, were roused by their respective Guardians when news of the attack got through to them. The news that followed in the wake of the attack though, was what got them mobilised so early in the human morning, on the way to LaGuardia to meet up with Rose and her group.

To see their faces splashed across the human entertainment news was a huge lapse in security for their Guardians and themselves, as they should have been able to detect the lone photographer when he took their pictures. This lapse could jeopardise the security of the Court and all of vampire-kind, maybe even accidentally outing them to the world. Humans might be more tolerant to the weird and extraordinary now, but to know that another species lived in secret alongside them for so long, and they did not know about it? It could herald another witch hunt, which their numbers could not afford any more than the Strigoi could. It would dry up their food source, which would make the Strigoi more violent, which would lead to more retaliation from the humans. It would be a never-ending cycle of violence.

Adrian was the one who made the call to Rose. "Little dhampir, did you see the news?" he asked without preamble.

"Yes, I did," she replied succinctly. "The _Klan Başkanı_ ordered me home to deal with this mess from the safety of the Citadel," she said.

"Okay, little dhampir, you're on speaker phone. Both of us can hear you loud and clear." Adrian said, placing the phone in its cradle as he hurriedly dressed so that he could meet up with Rose before heading back to Court. They too had been summoned home, by their respective parental figures no less.

"Are you okay, Rose?" Christian asked worriedly. Over the years, his relationship with the sometimes prickly Guardian had morphed to that of a brother/sister relationship, something that rivalled Rose and Lissa's previous relationship.

"Aww, is ole' Sparky worried about me?" Rose teased, masking her worry with made up humour to keep both men from worrying about her.

"Now is not the time to joke, little sister," Christian replied, his worry for the safety of his unofficial little sister leaking through his voice.

The both of them didn't really know about what went on all those years ago. Of course they knew the bare bones of it, having taken part in the biggest prank ever to hit St. Vladimir's shores, but what happened after that was a mystery to them. They only knew that Rose had gotten pregnant (probably by some irresponsible Moroi), and then she had had complications during the birth. They had only been to the Citadel once, the imposing home to the Mazur clan, and that was for a brief time to visit Rose when she was still recovering. All other times that they met her was after she had moved back to America, in New York to be exact.

They had their own lives to live, so they rarely got together with their dear friend. The only other people that could know more about what was going on would be Edison 'Eddie' Castile and Mia Rinaldi, closer friends to Rose than them, but the duo were off gallivanting around the world, visiting exotic places while secretly having a love affair (which they did their best to keep under wraps).

"Where are you taking the jet back?" Adrian asked this time.

"LaGuardia Airport. Baba said that the jet would be leaving in an hour."

"Okay, we'll meet you there." Adrian replied.

"Stay safe, little sister." Christian added.

"Okay, see you guys there." The line cut off after that.

"Still as testy as ever." Adrian tsked jokingly.

"I would be too, if my kids were suddenly outed to the press like that." Christian replied in a joking manner. "But I think that we should worry about ourselves first, Adrian."

"Yeah," he sighed, wiping a hand down his face. "I received a summons home to 'explain myself and my role in this debacle' by my esteemed father."

"Me too. Aunt Tasha wants to know what the hell is going on, and how am I embroiled in this 'scandalous act' as she calls it." Christian said, resigned to get chewed out when he got to Court.

"But we have to do our best to protect the little dhampir." Adrian said with renewed fire in his eyes and voice. "I don't know why she didn't want anyone at court to find out about the children, but now it is an open fact that they know of their existence, so we must protect them as much as we can." Christian couldn't help but silently agree with this sentiment.

* * *

Half a world away, Ibrahim Mazur was having the same thoughts as two younger Moroi men. His agents in the human world were even now busy sifting through all the information streaming online, trying to find the culprit of this entire mess. When he got his hands on the _p__iç_ who started all this and put his family's safety in jeopardy, the idiot would wish that he had never been born, and that he had never heard the name of Rhiannon Mazur Hathaway to begin with.

He received regular reports from his spies at court, and he knew that a lot of them were starting to pay attention to the supposed human woman who bore the alleged seed of two prominent Moroi families. They were researching her name, digging into her background to see what they could unearth about her that might be able to be used as leverage when she was, inevitably, dragged to Court. The Court healers were even now apprised of the situation, and they were getting ready all the implements to test the validity of the rumours, and put the issue to rest once and for all.

Some were turning their attention towards his daughter's name, and the name Mazur was not an unknown one at Court. They were the pre-eminent spies at the Court's disposal (if the Court cared to use them at all, which they mostly didn't), and had served as spymaster for many a King or Queen long ago. Add to that the name Hathaway behind it, and many were jumping to the hasty conclusion that she was related to the Mazur clan in some way or other. Probably she was another by-blow of a Mazur and a Hathaway, not the daughter of the Ibrahim Mazur and Guardian Janine Hathaway. But the conclusions hit too close to home, and Abe needed to shore up his defences even more. If anybody found out the entire truth before he had had a chance to appraise the Queen about it, it would become a blood bath of epic proportions.

The news of his daughter and her progeny's miraculous mutation was a very dangerous secret. Many dhampirs would love the chance to have children with her, as they wouldn't need to stick to purely Moroi anymore. The Moroi's themselves would take his daughter away to be a broodmare, popping out stronger Moroi children left, right and centre. And then there was the Strigoi. If they ever found out that there was a woman who could get pregnant by them and have children that were technically stronger dhampir (meaning live progeny), they would descend on the Mazur clan as a whole, just to get to Rose and the children.

No one was taking into account his daughters' feelings and safety in this situation. Only he, as her father, and their clan as a whole were going to do that for her. Barking orders to the Elite and normal Guardians, he ordered them to increase the security around the Citadel. He ordered more patrols around the border of their lands, as he had heard rumblings of movement from a large group of Strigoi further north, heading this way. Now, more than ever, the Citadel had to live up to its name, and the Elite and Guardians needed to be more vigilant in ensuring the continued safety of the clan.

Their lives may all depend on it.

* * *

Queen Tatiana was not a stupid woman. She might not show her intelligent side to others, as she knew that many Moroi councilmen only voted her up due to her supposed 'naïveté'. But she was actually keenly aware of the situation around her, and exercised her intelligence through her admittedly indifferent nephew Nathan Ivashkov, who couldn't be bothered with his only child, Adrian, causing his mother to overcompensate on love for her son.

Tatiana loved her great-nephew very much (they had a close relationship), and she felt that his father's indifference was the cause for all his rebellious behaviour. His smoking and drinking could still be tolerated, but his relationship with the then Novice Hathaway was not acceptable. It was not that she looked down on the girl, not at all, but for a Royal, appearances were almost everything in this fickle society they lived in. And their family couldn't afford to have Miss Hathaway in it, no matter how lovely the girl truly was (though Tatiana doubted that, she had heard the reports on the girl after all).

She relied on her unofficial spymaster, Ibrahim Mazur to get her the latest news from the human world. These rumoured children of a human with two Moroi was a powder keg waiting to explode in her face, made all the more precarious with her nephew being involved in the fiasco and the model herself being something of an icon in the human world. However, the news from Ibrahim was surprisingly scarce, and he was keeping his lips tightly shut regarding this matter. It made her wonder the validity of the rumours that this model was one of his clan members, and that was why they seemed to be closing ranks.

Then, her secretary came in with a missive. It bore the Mazur clan seal, something that was rarely seen nowadays. It meant that the missive was personally written by Ibrahim, and that it was very important.

Tatiana dismissed her secretary after taking the letter, and gently broke the seal. Unfurling the letter, she realised that it was written in Ibrahim's own hand.

_**Your Majesty,**_

_**I have heard of the news. I will be coming with my family to Court to personally address the situation with your Majesty.**_

_**Your servant,**_

_**Ibrahim**_

Short and succinct, just like the reports that Ibrahim sent her. Tatiana sat back in her chair with a smirk. Things were about to become more interesting at Court. Her spymaster was finally coming back.

* * *

**Meanings of words used:**

_Kiz_ – Turkish for 'daughter' (pronounced as _cuz_)

_Baba_ – Turkish for 'father'

_Klan Başkanı_ – Turkish for 'Clan Head' (pronounced as _klan + bash + ka + na_)

_Torunlar_ – Turkish for 'grandchildren (pronounced as _cho + rune + lar_)

_Dede_ – Turkish for 'grandfather' (pronounced as _deh + deh_)

_Büyük Büyükanne_ – Turkish for 'great grandmother (pronounced as _byuk + byu + kan + ne_)

_Varis_ – Turkish for 'heiress' (pronounced as _vah + riss_)

_Babushka_ – Russian for 'grandmother' (pronounced as _ba + bush +ka_)

_Piç_ – Turkish for 'bastard' (pronounced as _peach_)

* * *

AN: I'm leaving you all at a cliff hanger for now. Can you guess what's going to happen next? Stay tuned for next time .


	5. In the eye of the storm

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Five: In the eye of the storm…**

Rose heaved a sigh of relief when the jet finally took off from LaGuardia Airport. She was free to act as she wanted to for now (the flight to Istanbul took 10 hours), enough time for her to unwind and recharge, so that she had the energy to face the hurdles that were fast cropping up ahead of her.

She had met both Christian and Adrian in the VIP lounge of the airport before they had boarded their jet to Montana. It was only a four hour trip for them, but their end destination contained a mine field of emotional traps that neither man was eager to traverse. But they had assured her repeatedly that they would do it for her, to keep her and her children safe. They didn't deserve to be dragged back into the Moroi society via rumours and speculation, especially when she had done her best to keep off their radar.

David and Mikhail had said goodbye to their uncles stoically. It was almost like looking at miniature Dimitri's, they acted so much like their father at that time. Teagan refused to be parted from her, partly because of her shyness, the other was due to the scare her three children had had when they had arrived at the airport.

The crowds at LaGuardia were immense, despite the early hour, and it was not long before she was recognised and curious airport goers were whipping out mobile phones and snapping pictures of her and posting online. This in turn lured the ever present vultures called paparazzi to the airport, where they proceeded to shout questions at her. Many people jostled to get to touch her and say hello, which made for a very messy affair. All the noise shocked her kids, especially Teagan, and when one human man reached out to grab her hand, she screamed bloody murder.

The man had only wanted to touch the hand of Rhiannon Mazur's daughter (he was a diehard fan of hers), but it had scared Teagan. This got the attention of the vultures fast, and they started shouting many dumb questions and queries, doing their best to bypass her Guardians so that they could get their questions answered, such as whether the reason she had kept her children from the limelight was because they were ill or some such other nonsense. The questions came hard and fast, making more of a cacophony than a marching band going at full throttle at a Superbowl game. It became worse when both Adrian and Christian turned up, and they ushered her past security quickly, by-passing many who had been standing in line due to their VIP status.

Poor Teagan had been a crying mess in the VIP lounge, as Rose shushed her and cooed lullabies into her ear to get her to calm down. David and Mikhail had huddled near her, their eyes blown wide in the fright they didn't give any voice to. They were such lively children most of the time, it was almost foreign for them to be so quiet, as if body-snatchers had come in and taken them over (which Adrian had said, earning an elbow from Christian and a glare from Rose).

Adrian and Christian had left first; then their flight had been called. The boarding process had been smooth and the taxiing off was flawless; then they were in the air.

Rose had gone to the bathroom immediately when the seat-belt sign came off. She had to take something off first. Slipping inside, she locked the door before raising the hem of her dress, exposing her midriff to the air. The first thing that people paid attention to was the intricate belly button ring that she had. It was a creation of blessed silver (Spirit blessed) in the shape of an intricate ouroboros, with sapphire studs for eyes. The linings on the back of the ouroboros were filled with tiny diamonds, and this particular creation was a gift from her grandmother, which she had blessed personally and imbued with an illusion.

Rose had many of these little trinkets, but only a few were imbued with illusions. This particular one came in a set with a diamond studded silver thumb ring, which she also took off. The illusion that she wore as Rhiannon Mazur slid away like a mirage, leaving her true appearance on show. Gone were the blonde locks that fell to her waist, instead a riot of dark brown curls fell to just below her butt. Her bust increased a size, which in turn made her waist look even tinier. The single faint line across her stomach was the only testament to the time she had died to bring her children into the world. She breathed a relieved sigh – she was in her true appearance now.

Going back out, she tucked herself back in between her children, absently humming the lullaby 'Come Little Children' under her breath as she braided her hair in intricate braids before doing it all up into an elaborate herringbone honey updo. This hairstyle was needed were she to require wearing the veil later on. She sat back for now to enjoy the flight and get some much needed shut eye. She knew that she would need it later on – the fight for her life had just begun after all.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now getting ready to descend into Istanbul airspace. Please fasten your seat belts and ensure that any loose items are secured down." The captain's voice sounded through the P.A. system in the jet, rousing Rose from her slumber.

She didn't realise that she was _that_ tired. She had practically slept through the whole flight. After rousing David and Mikhail, she gently coaxed Teagan awake, knowing how cranky her daughter was when just woken up. She was like her mama in that regard, not a very happy camper when just woken. They both preferred to sleep in and wake up on their own, and Rose indulged her daughter in this occasionally. No need for her to develop any bad habits after all.

After an uneventful touch down and customary taxiing down the runway, Rose and her children once again emerged into the chilly air of the northern parts of Istanbul (after their Guardians had cleared it with ground control that all was safe for them to emerge, of course). Low fog was seeping along the ground, customary for this part of the city, especially at this time of night (it was 1 a.m. local time now) and during the autumn season.

The Citadel loomed up ahead of them, exuding a more forbidding air at this time of night than any other time that they had been back. Despite being brightly lit, the tan walls of the Citadel looked more like dark obsidian in some places. The entire place was buzzing with activity, ordered activity that is, no idiots running around like headless chicken here. The _Klan Başkanı_ would never allow them such a lax in discipline, and they would surely be punished severely with more training.

As Rose stepped foot in her home, her grandmother was there to greet her at the door.

"_Büyükanne_, I've missed you," Rose breathed in her grandmothers' scent of jasmine and moonflowers as she embraced the old woman warmly. She got back a sense of peace and stability, something that she had been sorely lacking when her world was suddenly tilted on its axis just this morning.

"It's alright, _torun_. You're home now," Lady Fatma reassured her, letting her go and turning to her great grandchildren next. "Hello, _büyük torun_. Have you missed me?" she asked, happily opening her arms wide for the children. They promptly barrelled into the older woman, nearly knocking her back on her heels.

"Oh I see, somebody has been getting stronger." She teased her grandsons, tweaking their cheeks to indicate that she was just joking with them. She lovingly stroked Teagan's hair, giving a kiss on her forehead as way of greeting. Their identical icy blue eyes stared at each other, silent communication flowing between them. It also showed where Teagan got her eyes from – not from an Ozera as the world suspected, but from her great grandmother, as the genes tended to skip generations before manifesting.

"Rest first, _torunlar_. We can discuss everything later this morning." Lady Fatma ordered, indicating the servants to take their things to their rooms. She could see how tired they were still.

"Good night, _büyükanne_. I'll see you in the morning." Rose didn't protest, knowing that her grandmother was only looking out for her health. They would discuss everything come morning.

They trudged up the grand staircase that was situated in the east side of the large receiving room. It was a spiralling affair, extending up several stories to the flat part of the Citadel's roof, made up of finely sanded limestone and inlaid with marble and lapis lazuli. This was a common theme around the Citadel, as not only was it the seat of power for the Mazur clan; it was also the official residence of one of the powerful Mid-Eastern Moroi families for centuries.

On the outside, the Citadel looked like a palace of stone and wood, coloured tan to match the previous surroundings of the palace. It had been undergoing a renovation to concrete and steel recently, but it still retained its original colouring. On the inside however, it was a masterpiece of limestone, lapis lazuli, marble and mother of pearl, interspersed with the rarer additions of obsidian, quartz, garnet and jasper that added more colour to the whole place. The entire structure was filled to the rafters with finely crafted hand woven tapestries and carpets, made of the softest wool, cashmere and silk, and the curtains that fluttered in the air were intricate creations of lace and Egyptian cotton that bedazzled the eye.

That did not take into account the various art pieces hanging from the wall. They might mostly be portraits of long gone Mazur ancestors, but it was their artists that caught the eye of any discerning art connoisseur. A da Vinci here, a Monet there, a Degas in the upper wing, a Renoir in the study; these were not so hard to find in the Citadel. It was a well-kept secret that the more war-like Mazur clan was a secret patron to many artistes of the day. Even now, the clan financed a few talented burgeoning artistes, not that society at large cared or even sought to find out this little tit-bit.

Many guests would wonder how it was that a family of spies could amass this much fortune? They all forgot though that their usual payment over the centuries for keeping their silence was in the form of material goods. The Mazur were excellent spies, and even more excellent businessmen/women. They had a hand or finger in almost every trade that passed through their territory, which ensured that they always had first-hand news and knowledge on the latest fads and trends. This practice was continued on in their descendants, which made them very wealthy.

Rose brushed her hand over one long tapestry that led to her room. It depicted a long ago battle scene that involved the Mazur clan and other affiliated clans battling the Strigoi threat during the Dark Ages. In it, she could make out the Moroi-Guardian teams that were so famous then. Bursts of fire, swirls of wind, uprooting earth and torrential rains were mingled in with the flashes of silver, that of silver stakes or silver swords ending the plague of Strigoi for all eternity. It was a very poignant scene for her, as it was one of the last recordings of Moroi-Guardian teams in battle. A Dashkov came into power not long after that battle, and the rest is history.

Rose's room was actually a large suite that had four rooms in it. One was the master bedroom, which she alone occupied. The next room was a middle sized room that served as her children's room, and the other two rooms were converted into a study cum play room and a dressing room cum armoury. This was where she headed to first. She knew that she couldn't sleep well, not after all this. She would most likely wake up with nightmares, so her time would be better spent joining the next rotation of Elite and Guardian formation sent out of the Citadel.

After spending some time coaxing her babies back to bed, she stepped into the armoury part of the room and quickly stripped to bare skin. She then donned the black uniform that all night patrol formations wore. It consisted of a black full body latex like skin suit, paired together with sturdy black boots that all had retractable silver stakes in the heels and an assortment of utility belts/loops. Some wore theirs in the customary position (i.e. around the waist), while others wore them loped across the chest like bandoliers or in Rose's case, a mixture of the belt version with one wrapped around her left arm and another wrapped around her right thigh, of which it could hold up to three silver stakes at one time.

The last piece of the ensemble consisted of a silver headband that was threaded through her hair and secured in a loop back above her right ear. It was made in the image of a serpent, more specifically a cobra with a flared hood. This headband secured a black veil to the front of her face, in which the headband was also imbued with an illusion that no matter how people sought to look through the veil, they would never see her features. This was a security measure that all Elite and Guardians used on night patrol, so as to minimize the risk of exposure. They were trained to recognise their comrades via the silver ornaments on their battle suits. For the women, it was through the headband/pin/comb that secured their veil (it varied from Guardian to Guardian), while as for the men, it was from the pin that secured the face-mask to their hoods.

Her children had seen her in this uniform once, and Mikhail had innocently asked if 'Mama was the Black Widow from Avengers' (they had just watched the movie a few weeks back). Rose had laughed, and said that she was similar to that fictional character, but she didn't work alone. She worked in a team. She had put them to bed, and then headed out with that night's current formation to scour the city walls for Strigoi activity.

She just managed to catch the second rotation of Elite just heading out to the southern side of the city.

"Kali, reporting for duty." She said, saluting the captain of this group of Elite. He was a muscular Elite who went by the code sign Bear, and he was a proven fighter in the ranks, rising to nearly the top, probably only second to her father and his personal guard, Pavel.

"Fall in line, Kali." He turned to address the team, "tonight there were sightings of Strigoi down south, near the Sea of Marmara. They have moved much closer to the populated region of the city, which means that the chance of exposure to humans is higher. This is a risk we cannot afford, not at this time. Time is of the essence, so move out!"

The group of Elite, which was six members strong, scrambled into the waiting jeep and set off from the compound via a hidden tunnel. They emerged into the night some twenty minutes later, near an abandoned lot deep in the city centre. They journeyed further south, reaching their end destination near the port of the city. It was an old warehouse lot, abandoned for demolition by the city council – perfect breeding ground for the Strigoi.

"Team, star formation," was the only order issued by Bear before the group entered the warehouse.

Star formation meant five people were facing outwards in the cardinal points of a five pointed star, with one person in the middle. This was a standard formation for recon and retrieval missions, but it was also a flexible battle formation or for a protection mission with the mark being kept in the middle of the group. This time, the team's medic was placed in the middle, so as to provide cover fire for the other members (when required), and to heal any member on the go (if injured) during the mission.

Their strongest melee fighters were stationed to the front and back of the star, with the longer range fighters stationed at the three other points of the star. This way all corners were covered during battle, and the formation was fluid enough that they could switch places anytime during battle to counter any attack sent their way. For this mission, Kali was stationed at the back of the star, with Bear taking point, Çakal, Dagger, and Aslan taking long range and their team medic Maya stationed in the middle.

There was no need to knock when it came to Strigoi. The team burst into the warehouse, and Bear and the others were immediately engaged in fighting a large group of them. Kali and Maya proceeded with their primary mission, that of exterminating this particular nest of Strigoi which had sprung up just a week ago and was already spreading its stain far. They planted explosive devises filled with silver around the support pillars of the warehouse, exterminating any stray Strigoi that got in their way. They also put similar devises on any and all exits to the warehouse that they came across, working themselves around the circuit and back to their team-mates.

They didn't expect the Strigoi to have another nest just nearby. This was not included in the mission brief that they had received just prior to the mission. A large group of Strigoi burst through the far wall of the warehouse, right behind the retreating backs of Kali and Maya. The two women were swept back deeper into the warehouse, and separated during their scramble to reach for their weapons.

Kali lost sight of her comrade, but she had no time to worry about Maya, she needed to take care of herself first. She was surrounded by a large group of Strigoi, with three of them at least being older Strigoi, judging by their much graceful movements compared to the others. She picked her first target, a much more jittery looking Strigoi male, because when catching prey, you took down the weakest of the group first.

Rose flung herself into motion, delivering a strong uppercut that dazed the first male, before twisting around and back handing another male that had been advancing on her. A female sprang at her, and they met in mid-air, a twisting dervish of arms and legs that ended with her cutting the head off of the female. Then, devilishly strong arms wrapped around her from behind and squeezed, intending to knock her out via quick suffocation, but she wasn't going down that easily.

She snapped her head backwards, head butting the large brute that had had her, before thrusting a stake through his heart. Then, she was tripped up by the first jittery male Strigoi, and the horde descended on her like vultures to carrion. Making a snap decision, she unleashed one of the new weapons that the Elite's R&D had just developed, a modified UV flashbang that emitted ultraviolet light, and snapped her eyes tight. There was a large bang, which left her ears ringing for quite a while (since it detonated in close proximity, which wasn't a good idea with their sensitive hearing), and then she snapped her eyes open, staggering to her feet amid the burning corpses of at last count, fifteen Strigoi.

She couldn't afford to procrastinate, so ran off into the dark of the warehouse to assist Maya. She found the medic holding her own, despite being injured in one leg, making it much harder for her to manoeuvre. Rose jumped right into the fray, slinging two stakes through the hearts of two random Strigoi, and jumping straight onto the back of an enormous beast of a Strigoi. She viciously gauged at his eyes, succeeding in blinding him before she slid another of her stakes through his rib-cage and into his heart.

Flipping off his back, she pirouetted in mid-air, landing crouched over a dead Strigoi she had killed. Yanking her stake from its chest cavity, she executed a Chainé turn (a series of quick turns on alternating feet) in a circular direction, staking Strigoi as she went. She returned to Maya's side, stabbing the last Strigoi in the back with the same stake.

"Wow, another rack up of bodies, Kali." Maya whistled, wincing as she was helped up from her crouched position over another Strigoi corpse. "How many this time?" she asked.

"About thirty I think, give or take a couple," came the honest reply from Kali. She hadn't been paying attention to how many she had killed; she just went with her gut and struck down any Strigoi that she came across.

"Time's a ticking, ladies!" Aslan's voice sounded from the front of the warehouse. Both ladies legged it, knowing that the timer was counting down on their set explosives.

"Are you alright, Maya? Kali?" Çakal asked as he set the last explosive on the 'front door' that they had made upon entering the warehouse.

"It'll hold, Çakal till we get to a safer distance." Maya answered her comrade.

They piled into the jeep, after making sure that all Strigoi corpses were accounted for, including the surprise additions, before driving some distance away. Dagger, their resident demolitions expert, did the countdown, and right on time, the modified silver-laced C4 went off, causing the warehouse to implode, burying all evidence of Strigoi from the humans. They would still send for the Alchemists later on though, to make sure that all traces of their existence were stripped from the site, just in case.

"Any major injuries?" Bear asked once the site was cleansed. The others answered in the negative, except Maya.

"That's gonna need a Healer, Maya." Aslan tsked knowingly.

"Yeah, it's not as if you can heal yourself." Dagger joked, pointing to the bone sticking out of Maya's thigh. He received a cuff on the head from Kali instead.

"Cleanse yourselves when we return to the Citadel. Tonight is our bi-weekly Marking ceremony." Bear said succinctly. The Elite in the jeep nodded, knowing exactly what this entailed.

They reached the Citadel in good time, and said goodbye to Maya who was headed to the Healing wing of the palace. The rest of the team headed into the Spirit House located in the inner sanctum of the Citadel, which was the holiest place in the entire compound. The Spirit House was actually a cathedral like building with an inner courtyard that was only accessible via the main entrance of the Spirit House itself. The rooms in the Spirit House consisted of an Oracle room, which was currently unoccupied; a large church-like prayer room used for conducting sermons and classes, and the rest were a series of cleansing cum dressing rooms, divided between the sexes for the purpose of cleansing themselves before any ceremony was conducted.

Rose was the only one in the womens' section, as most of the female Elite and Guardians had already cleansed themselves and were awaiting the last of the patrols to roll in so that they could hold the Marking ceremony. The Marking ceremony was when a dhampir or Moroi received a mark for any Strigoi that they had killed. The body was first cleansed with an anise and basil purification bath, before the initiate donned a white backless shift robe (for women) or white pants only (for men) to receive their marks.

All Guardians and Elite were then ushered into the central courtyard, where the focal point of the ceremony resided. It was a pool of everlasting water, made and blessed with the five elements of magic. The pool itself was made from earth magic, the water was contributed by water magic, wind magic continually stirred the waters of the pool, and the water was kept at a constant temperature no matter the season by fire magic. Lastly, the water itself was blessed by spirit. Frankincense and myrrh burned in censers all year round, which represented the masculine and the feminine, an essential teaching of the Olde Ways. It was used to promote cleansing and purification, just as the anise and basil bath did.

Initiates who were to receive their marks were to step forward when called, and drink from the everlasting pool, before baring their back to the Guardian in charge of giving out the marks. They would receive a _molnija_ mark for every Strigoi killed, or if the number is too numerous to count, they would receive a _zvezda_ mark instead. This practice had largely been forgotten by Moroi and dhampir society at large, discarded instead for the cheaper and easier option of going to the Court tattooist to get their marks. What they didn't realise was that each mark done in the Olde Ways was not only a little protective magic weaved into the skin of the initiate, it was also a form of prayer for the eternal soul of the Strigoi they had killed. It was only practiced by the Mazur clan now, as far as they knew it.

When Rose emerged into the inner courtyard, she was one of the last to arrive. She stood near the back, watching as one by one Guardian and Elite alike stepped forward to receive their marks. Then, her name was called.

"Kali," it was the oldest Guardian they had in the Citadel, whom had served as Head of Elite and also personal Guardian to two previous _Klan Başkanı_ Mazur, who called her forward. The hardened warrior was now in charge of bestowing the marks to initiates.

A wave of awed whispers and murmurs followed in her wake. Kali was regarded as a prodigy of the highest degree. She had joined a scant five years ago, but it was she, who had come up with the tactical plans for the Purge, and she had climbed the ranks of the Guardians and Elite based on sheer skill and battle prowess alone. The marks that snaked down her back were testament to her skill in destroying the undead. At last count, she had two _zvezda_ marks and forty three _molnija_ marks. This night, as she knelt before the everlasting pool, she gained another _zvezda_ mark before the eyes of her peers. After receiving the marks, all attendees to the ceremony then dipped their hands and feet in the streams trickling from the pool, as a last cleansing, before they mingled awhile with their sibling in arms.

Rose herself received many congratulations on her way out, as she was too tired after this night to mingle long. She realised that the legend of Kali would get blown to even more enormous proportions after this night, as she was currently the female Elite with the most battle marks, almost on par with her superiors in the squad. But this didn't register in her mind, as for now her fluffy pillows and feathery mattress was calling her name.

She would deal with everything else in the morning.

* * *

**Meanings of words used:**

_Klan Başkanı_ – Turkish for 'Clan Head' (pronounced as _klan + bash + ka + na_)

_Büyükanne_ – Turkish for 'grandmother' (pronounced as _byu + kan + ne_)

_Torun_ – Turkish for 'granddaughter/grandchild' (pronounced as _cho + rune_)

_Büyük torun_ – Turkish for 'great grandchildren' (pronounced as _byuk + cho + rune_)

_Torunlar_ – Turkish for 'grandchildren' (pronounced as _cho + rune + lar_)

Çakal – Turkish for 'Coyote' (pronounced as _cha + kal_)

Aslan – Turkish for 'Lion' (pronounced as _as + lan_)

* * *

AN: I'm leaving everyone with a first taste of the inner workings of the Olde Ways, a much more detailed description of the Citadel, and also my first major fight scene. Please review and tell me how it sounded to you guys. Did any of it make sense to you? Could you imagine Rose doing all those things?


	6. Nothing's ever calm

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Six: … Nothing's ever calm**

_Half a day earlier_

The flight from New York to Pennsylvania couldn't last long enough for two particular young men. They had been ordered home by their respective parental figures, to explain their roles in the scandalous rumours that broke out over the news just this morning. Not only had these particular rumours made headlines in the human media, it had also caused waves and ripples in the Moroi grapevine. All this could be attributed to one thing alone – bloodlines.

To the masses, it was just hearsay about the alleged love children of a world renowned model with two of her long-time friends/rumoured paramours. However to the Moroi, it was the ultimate breach of their cardinal law: Moroi are not to have any relations with humans. That this particular rule-breaking not only involved the scions to two prominent Royal Moroi families, but that it also might include any progeny derived from the union, was utterly unthinkable to Moroi society at large.

This issue actually did not bother the dhampirs much, as either way they looked at it, it was just a couple of Moroi blowing off steam with a human, which though dangerous on its own, did not warrant this much scrutiny from the vampire society at large. It was all just rumours and hearsay, unsubstantiated at that. There was no proof that the children were actually related to the Moroi involved in this scandal. In fact, they had more pressing matters to attend to, such as the increasing number of Strigoi, and the matter of the survival of their race as a whole.

Adrian kept fidgeting in his seat, despite the opulent surroundings and serene ambience that the interior of their jet strived to provide them.

"Stop wriggling, Ivashkov. It's not as if we've done anything worth getting worried about," Christian commented from the seat next to his, calmly reading a magazine. Despite it being almost bed time for most Moroi, he felt wide awake and energetic. Maybe it was because he was going to see her again soon.

"How can you be so calm, Christian? Aren't you supposed to be the one more worried about the reception that we are going to get when we reach Court?" Adrian asked, as he once again fussed with the plush pillows that were provided in his side of the seats.

"No, I'm not worried. I know that I did nothing wrong, and Aunt Tasha will definitely be on my side. She knows me too well to believe such a silly thing as this," Christian replied coolly.

"Yeah, well, bully for Aunt Tasha. I still have to go face my father, and that's not counting the meeting I am sure to have with Aunt Tatiana later on," Adrian said glumly. Normally he wouldn't show anyone this side of him, the insecure young man that hid behind the façade of a cool player, but Christian had earned the right to see the true him, something only Rose had the privilege of seeing before this.

"I promised my sister that I would protect her, and I always keep my promises." Christian reminded him.

"So do I. I owe a lot to the little dhampir, one of which is my sanity. She is one of the reasons that I am not at the brink yet," Adrian said sombrely. "I will do my best to protect her and the children too. After all, I'm their Uncle Adrian, the coolest uncle that they have."

"No you're not. I'm the best uncle that they have." Christian responded heatedly.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

The rest of the plane ride was spent with joking and bantering between the men, the issue of their impending inquisition put on the back burner for the mean time.

* * *

One hundred ninety one… one hundred ninety two… one hundred ninety three… one hundred ninety four…

Those were the reps that were repeating through Dimitri's mind as he performed his daily workout. Despite having a charge to look after, due to the shortage of Guardians, he still needed to haul ass and do normal patrols as well. This made for a slightly irregular sleep pattern, which explained why although it wasn't time for him to guard the princess, he was still awake and working out. Most Guardians took the opportunity during down time to reconnect with their peers, or rest for the next long haul of duty, but not Dimitri.

For one thing, he couldn't afford to do it. He needed the down time to keep up with his training, as he could possibly be guarding the future Queen of the Moroi. Another reason why he trained so hard was so that he would never be caught flat footed again. That one lapse in time caused a huge impact on his life and actions thereafter, and in the process, he lost the one thing that he had ever truly called his own.

Her, his wild girl, his Roza.

Uttering those four words to her in the church that day was the worst mistake he had ever done in his life. Letting her just walk away after that compounded the error he had committed. He was still floundering, unsure of what to do to win her back, when she showed him and the world that she didn't need him anymore. She not only broke records across the book when she graduated, she was still listed as the only female Novice to ever graduate at the top of her class _and_ do it despite losing out on two years of school.

Dimitri absently changed position from one handed pull ups to upside down crunches as he delved deeper into his thoughts. He paid no mind to the other Guardians sharing the gym with him. So long as they did not disturb him, and the sky wasn't falling down, he would be immersed in his thoughts as he did his workout. As such, he did not realise that his workouts always drew a crowd, which consisted of both male and female Guardians.

The males all hoped to compete with Dimitri's prowess, which many tried time and again to surpass or even at least break even with, but Dimitri was like a drill sergeant in the gym. He did his reps, which were almost impossible for the average Guardian to follow, and then he followed it up with his weapons training, of which his accuracy was almost 100% on the spot, all the time. He rarely, if ever, missed his target and _that_ time it was only by a couple inches.

For the females, they came to the gym to workout, yes, but a lot of time was also spent either discretely or not so discretely ogling the Russian god in their midst. He was so into his stuff all the time that he never noticed the admiring glances sent his way by the female Guardians. The man may not be able to father babies (for dhampirs anyway), but dear lord in heaven, he was such a hunky piece of man meat. Those muscular arms and legs, that full chest, those wash board abs – hell, he even had an eight pack! His torso and lower body was extremely well proportioned, and it was all covered by deeply tanned skin. Can anybody say 'Yummy'?

Moreover, he was not only good looking; he was also very dedicated to his charge as well. Many Moroi women and even some female dhampir as well, found themselves very envious of the attention and care that he bestowed upon the princess. He took care of her every need (which admittedly wasn't much), and he made sure that she was safe, always. Since being officially designated as her Guardian, the princess was never involved in any unsafe activities (not unlike when she was with then Novice Hathaway!), and she had never been hurt physically in any way.

Dimitri was even good with children. Not only did he dote on his nephew and nieces whenever they came to court, rare as it was, he also volunteered his services part time at the crèche at Court. Whenever the female Guardians and Moroi saw him handling a particularly cranky Moroi child, or perhaps a shy dhampir child, a fire was lit within their bellies to get the seed of this particular god-like man into their womb. Many a female had offered, but they were always rebuffed politely. He always said that he was waiting for _the_ woman of his dreams to forgive him.

He was handsome, muscular, attentive, caring, polite and loyal to boot! He was the perfect package of tall, dark and handsome with a touch of mystery rolled in for good measure – too bad that he seemed to be taken. All the interested women at Court were eager to meet this enigma of a woman who had captured the heart of the Russian god, and secretly they hoped to compare themselves to her to see where it was they were lacking for them to not catch the eye of the dark Adonis.

"Dimitri." Someone called his name, breaking him from his inner musings. It was a familiar voice, and when he lowered himself from his crunch, he saw the upside down face of Eddie Castile.

Flipping himself to the ground, he turned to face this old familiar face, not noticing the sighs that emanated from the female Guardians in the room, nor the slight scoffs and sounds of awe from the males. Eddie did, and he smiled internally. Dimitri Belikov; still living up to the Anti-Social God moniker that Rose and Mason had given to him oh so long ago, when they were younger and more naïve. He was still as clueless as ever to the undercurrent of emotions around him, unless of course it involved Rose, or his charge Lissa.

"Hello, Guardian Castile." Dimitri said in greeting, grabbing his towel that hung nearby. He didn't notice the crest-fallen look in several female dhampirs' eyes for not taking the towels that they had offered him instead.

"Hello, Dimitri. How're things at Court?" Eddie asked as the duo walked to the weapons training side of the gym. "Mia and I just came back from Tahiti, we touched down half an hour ago, and I came to the most reliable source of information at Court to catch up on the news. So, what's up?" he asked as he leant against the nearest wall.

"The Court was attacked by a group of Strigoi not three hours ago." Dimitri said succinctly. It was always straight to the point as usual with him.

"Shit." Eddie exclaimed, standing straighter immediately. "What's the casualty count?"

"There were 15 dead Guardians, as well as 5 dead Moroi. 32 others were injured in the battle, with 24 Moroi injured during the rush for safety. Princess Vasilisa escaped unharmed." He added that last at the back, knowing that Guardian Castile was good friends with the princess.

"God, that's awful. Where did the breach occur?" he queried, curious as to what happened exactly.

"It was at the south wing of Court, near the Moroi apartments of that sector. We are still investigating how the breach occurred, and how the Strigoi knew to attack there." Dimitri answered in a low tone.

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that someone let them in?" Eddie queried in a hurried whisper.

"We, as in the higher level Guardians are not sure, but we suspect something damaged the integrity of the wards in that sector, and the Strigoi chose that particular time to strike. Everything is still under scrutiny, so please keep this information to yourself for now." Dimitri warned the younger man.

"Sure, will do. Anyway, enough of the hard and heavy stuff. Any new rumours surfaced during my absence?" Eddie asked jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. He knew very well that the Russian god never paid attention to the gossip around Court. That's why he was still oblivious to his new moniker, the dark Adonis.

"Well, Lord Adrian Ivashkov and Lord Christian Ozera are rumoured to have fathered three children with a human model." Dimitri offered after a moment of thought.

Eddie, who had been taking a swig of water from a nearby water fountain, did a spit take, spewing water from his nose and mouth, barely missing a Guardian that had been passing by. He spluttered out apologies to the poor guy, before turning bewildered eyes to Dimitri.

"You're kidding, right? You must be; Adrian and Christian would never be that reckless or stupid." Eddie said, secretly wondering in his heart whether they could be that crazy.

"Unfortunately, it seems to be true. There are even pictures as proof." Dimitri denied his feeble hope that all this was just a joke.

"Man, I've missed out a lot, not being here all the time. Wait till Mia hears about this – she'll be pissed for sure…" Eddie descended into mutters after that.

_You don't know the half of it_, Dimitri thought darkly.

* * *

At the same time, the two starring men in the scandal of the century (for now) were being shown into the study of the Queen. Some bright sod had suggested a public inquisition at first, but the dark glares from the families involved brought that idea down real fast. Then, the Queen superseded all that by ordering that the two young men involved be brought straight to see her when they arrived. Nobody said anything else after that. So now, both Adrian and Christian were stuck in a joint audience with the reigning monarch of their people.

Adrian preceded Christian in entering the room, greeting the Queen with a joyful 'Aunt Tatiana!' as he all but ignored the sombre aura in the room by moving forward and embracing the Queen, even going so far as to give her an effusive kiss on the cheek. He had a role to play, after all, and it wouldn't do to disappoint his devoted audience. Only his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil, of which only Christian and the queen herself seemed to notice.

Christian himself was more low-key in greeting the queen. He bowed at a sixty degree angle, his back straight, arms tight to his side and legs kept together, for a period of ten seconds. It was the proper protocol when greeting the ruling monarch of Court, something that had been drummed into his head as soon as he had been old enough to hold his head up high. That had been a time when he still had his parents, when the world had been all about learning to be the perfect son, so that one day maybe he could be in line to be the next monarch of their people. He was still amazed that he remembered this much of his etiquette lessons, and not thrown it into the bin along with any memory of his parents.

"Leave us." The Queen commanded to the room at large. Nathan Ivashkov looked belligerent, not wanting to leave just yet, but he was tugged away by his wife, Daniella. Tasha Ozera was resigned to it, knowing that she wouldn't get to talk to her nephew before the Queen did, to find out just what the hell was going on and how were they to counter it. The numerous hanger-ons who claimed to need to know what was going on for one thing or another had no choice but to leave. The Queen didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood. Heck, even the servants were dismissed.

Once the room was clear of all occupants besides the two main stars of the show, the reigning monarch did a slow walk around the room, as if contemplating what to say to express her ire regarding the situation. Her expression was very forbidding, and she must have been pissed enough not to offer them a seat, as etiquette dictated that she do so. Then, she opened her mouth.

"Well done, boys." Wait, what?

Both Adrian and Christian did a double take upon hearing the words that came out of the Queen's mouth. They had heard wrongly, right? Did the queen just praise them?

"Your Majesty…" Christian began, wanting to start his explanation, but the queen waved him off.

"I don't need any explanations from you young men just yet," the queen said airily. "All will be explained to me in due time, that is one promise that has been given to me, and the person who promised me this always delivers." She said with an air of finality.

"Whew. I thought that I was a goner there for just a second," Adrian said, exhaling a gusty breath of air as he sank dramatically into a nearby chair. The Queen smirked in reply.

"Did you really think that I would be angry, nephew mine?" she queried. "This is the most fun I have had in Court for a very long while," she said playfully, crossing over to her desk and taking her own seat. She motioned for Christian to take a seat as well, which he did mechanically, still not over the shock of being praised for causing trouble, by the Queen of all people!

"Lord Ozera, please relax. I won't bite, much," the Queen joked, referring to her purported temper, not her literal fangs.

"Did you have this much fun when I was with Rose?" Adrian questioned, clearly wanting to know the answer to a mystery that had been boggling him for quite some time. He had sensed that his aunt had been amused (secretly, of course) by his brief relationship with the little dhampir, but she had only shown her disapproval towards the relationship. Of course, nothing had come of it in the end, and she had been content to keep mum about it. Not so much for some other people he knew.

"I did, and I didn't." the Queen replied. "I never explained to you why I didn't approve of your relationship with the young Hathaway, did I?" she mused. She stared at both men, including them in this little secret confession of hers.

"I could see from the very start that her heart was not yours to begin with." Queen Tatiana began. "Her hand may have been in yours, but her heart was never there. Her eyes seemed to be roving, searching for a specific someone, but never finding him. I didn't realise who it was that she was looking for, until I heard the case about Guardian Belikov."

"It was then that I realised that the person who had her heart all along was Guardian Belikov. No wonder she took off after him, even when she was still in a relationship with you. I could only pity the poor thing, chasing after shadows that way, and then the miraculous happened. She returned him to the living." The queen waved a hand in the air, "oh, I heard all about it even all the way here in Court. People say that Princess Vasilisa was the one who saved him, but I knew better. It was that girl, and her determination and unwavering love for Guardian Belikov that truly saved him." She took a sip of her tea, before continuing right on.

"Vasilisa may have been the one to stake him, but it was Guardian Hathaway who had unearthed one of our long lost secrets to reclaiming our loved ones back from the undead. Her efforts kick started a secret mission of mine, something that I had been meaning to do when I took this office, but kept getting put off with excuses of work and other such nonsense. Of course, during the time of your relationship with her, I had so enjoyed watching your father, my nephew Nathan squirm in discomfort. That boy still hasn't learned to live a little, something I attribute to my elder brother's upbringing, bless his departed soul." Tatiana said in an aside, making both her nephew and Lord Ozera grin.

"So, what do we do now, Your Majesty?" Christian asked, internally heaving a sigh of relief, while also dreading what it was they were supposed to do now.

"For now, we will feed the misconception that I gave the both of you the castigation of your life. I will then be keeping you both close at hand to prevent you from causing anymore 'scandals' at Court. The true reason is because I have a task for the both of you. You will actually be researching the Olde Ways for me," she said.

"The Olde Ways? Do you mean the rituals and concepts that have almost been forgotten by our people?" Adrian asked, intrigued.

"They're not just about rituals; it was practically a way of life for the dhampir and Moroi hundreds of years ago." Christian explained. This was one topic that came up often in his home, what with his Aunt Tasha championing the cause for Moroi to start learning to defend themselves.

"There's no right or wrong in this, that's why I want you both to research everything you can find out about the Olde Ways. This has to be done discretely, of course. Many at Court would not support this new, or should I say old school of thought. It needs to be introduced slowly, starting from the very basics." The Queen said sincerely.

"So, put on your best 'just scolded and we're repentant' faces, and we shall go out and give them a show," Queen Tatiana joked, standing up and rearranging her features into a very convincing scowl. Then, she strode forward and threw open the doors, stalking out right after, with both men following after her, suitably chastised looks on their faces.

The show had to go on, after all, and what was a show without its actors?

* * *

The walk through the corridors of the main building at Court was one filled with speculative gestures and whispers towards the two young men. By now, the entire Court had heard that they had been summoned for a personal audience with the Queen, and she looked like she was in a towering mood. Her strides were long, yet still retaining the elegance bred into the Royal Moroi since young. The ground eating pace soon saw the trio arriving at the royal housing apartments of the Queen herself.

"I have arranged for the both of you to stay in apartments near ours," Queen Tatiana said regally. "This is to ensure that neither of you are tempted to indulge in any scandalous behaviour here at Court," she decreed as she turned to stare at the two young lords before her. She discretely eyed the Moroi who were shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation. This fit into her plans perfectly.

"You are to spend the time in your apartments on self-reflection, and then you are to write a two thousand word long essay on what you have done wrong, and what you should and should not do in the future," she added as further 'punishment'. This was to convince the eavesdroppers even more that she was dealing with the matter seriously, of which they were sure to spread the news of to anyone else at Court. It would also disguise any information that her two 'researchers' turned up, and then passed on to her to look over.

"But Aunt Tatiana…"

"Yes Your Majesty."

Two completely conflicting, and totally different responses were given upon her new 'decree'. It was exactly how Adrian and Lord Ozera would respond in a true, similar situation. They had to play the part of unrepentant rascal (Adrian) and obedient gentleman (Lord Ozera).

"Not a single word." Tatiana said sternly. "Into your new apartments now, march!" she ordered. This was starting to become a lot of fun for her. Maybe she would do it again some other time, perhaps when Zmey returned… Hmm, lots to plan and plot for…

She absently turned to the silent servants that had been standing at attention ever since she entered the corridor. "Go to Lord Ozera and Lord Ivashkov's former quarters; retrieve their items of clothing and personal belongings. Place it in their new quarters and ensure that neither of them receives any visitors. Their meals are to be brought to them, unless I order them to attend to me. That shall be all." The silent warning that her will was to be enforced at all times, or else, was left unsaid, hanging in the air like a silent, invisible guillotine that the servants were viscerally aware of on a purely instinctual level.

The Queen then proceeded to the council room. There was a meeting regarding the Court budgetary fund that she had to preside over. Oh, the joys of being a monarch.

* * *

Ibrahim Mazur contemplated how to go about protecting his daughter. In the vampire society, he was known as the infamous Ibrahim 'Abe' Mazur, a powerful and wealthy renegade Moroi who had close ties to the current reigning monarch at Court. To his business associates, he was Zmey, the serpent who hid many secrets and divulged none. However, to the human world, he was known simply as Ibrahim Mazur, international business tycoon and also father to famous model Rhiannon Mazur Hathaway. This was the guise that he donned now, that of an enraged father out for blood.

When he had let Rose join the modelling world, it had come with several fail-safes and stipulations that Rose had to agree to, and that any and all people who engaged her as their model had to comply with. First and foremost, he had to protect the security of their world and the safety of his beloved daughter. This was made possible by letting Rose debut in the modelling agency that he owned partially. The agency was actually jointly owned by a franchise under the umbrella of his corporation, and another franchise that served as a front for the Alchemists. By letting Rose debut there, he ensured that she wasn't being manipulated or cheated out of her hard earned money (not that she actually needed it).

He had also inserted a clause in the fine writing of the contracts that the agency signed with the companies that hired Rose as a model. They were required to keep their silence on any and all personal details of Rose's life that they may inadvertently discover during the course of her duration of working for them. Also, he had had a gag order issued out to all major news outlets and media firms, which prohibited them from publishing/reporting any personal information that wasn't voluntarily offered by Rose herself. This included any unauthorised pictures, videos, or voice recordings.

Failure to comply with these terms could actually find the offending party neck deep in law-suits that would make the famous Michael Jackson's court cases look like petty playground squabbles. Abe had also tasked several Guardians to provide round the clock protection for Rose and his _torunlar_. The final stipulation was that Rose could not become a model under her real name and face. So, the persona of Rhiannon Mazur Hathaway was born. It looked far different from her real appearance, yet there still were some similarities he couldn't bear to change in his daughters' face, the chief of which was her eyes, which were the exact same shade as his.

So, as his _kiz_ and _torunlar_ were flying back home, Ibrahim Mazur, international business tycoon, accomplished spymaster and papa bear extraordinaire, took to the world stage. He issued a statement via teleconference from the seat of his power, which was his study in the Citadel.

"My name is Ibrahim Mazur, the owner to global conglomerate Mazur Consolidated. I am speaking on behalf of my daughter, Rhiannon Mazur Hathaway. Rhiannon is currently unavailable to comment on the vicious rumours that were spawned by the unlawfully taken pictures of her and her family. She will be offering an official statement on this matter a few days from now, after the trauma that was suffered by her children has abated.

In the meantime, I would like to suggest that the publications and media that have been running the story on our family cease and desist. We would like to see a retraction of the stories and a public apology on this gross breach of privacy. If you would look to the contracts that you have signed, you will see that there is a gag order on the private lives of Rhiannon and our family. We look forward to seeing the ugly stories be taken off your publications. If not, please expect our lawyers to contact you within the next seventy two hours. That is all I have to say on the matter. Thank you and have a nice day."

The speech was short and to the point. It sparked an immediate flurry in the legal departments of the afflicted media houses and publications. When researched, it was found to be the absolute truth. Some people questioned the validity of the gag order, but since Mazur Consolidated had not only greatly contributed in the research and development of new weaponry but also medical cures for the government, the higher ups insisted that the order stand. After that, there was a mad scramble to detract the stories and pictures that were circling the web. But by then, the damage had already been done.

The good name of a model had been dragged through the mud, the privacy of a family had been violated, and the innocent lives of three children had been put into jeopardy. The Mazur name was quite famous, and kidnapping attempts were not uncommon. The secret existence of the children had guaranteed their safety, but one single photographers' thirst for fame and fortune had just endangered all of them. People were calling for blood, and now it was just time before the idiot who had taken those pictures was offered up to the altar as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of a vengeful father.

* * *

"That was masterfully played, Ibrahim," Lady Fatma praised from the couch opposite her son's seat. She had sat through the entire one-way teleconference, and she had been there when her son had received the news that there had already been a kidnapping attempt on their _torunlar_.

Nobody had recognised the attempted kidnapping as anything but an overzealous fan wanting to meet and touch his idol and her children for the first time. Only their highly trained Köstebek, who had actually been hidden among the crowd of humans, had realised the true nature of that particular encounter. They had seen through the façade of the kidnapper, and had reacted to prevent him from getting his hands on any of the children.

It was actually Teagan's shy nature that had saved her, as she had been so spooked by the touch that she had screamed. The Guardians and Elite had taken action then, ushering the family faster through the airport, and the timely arrival of Lord Ivashkov and Lord Ozera had hastened that process. Despite the frenzy that their appearance had whipped up, Ibrahim was truly grateful that they had been there.

"It is still not enough _anne_, the people who are my business rivals have already found out about the children. It isn't safe for them in the human world any longer, and they have not been really introduced to the world that they come from. Rose does her best, but she would only be labelled as _shlyukha _by the people who did not know the truth," the worried father agonised. "You know as well as I that Mazur only love once, and that love is always true, no matter the consequences. It is a blessing, as well as a curse, and in this case, it could very well be the latter."

"Give it time, _oğlum_; we do not know what the future holds. We may witness a change in fate for our Ameerah just yet," the old woman said wisely, gently patting her son's hand in a reassuring way.

"Do you have any news from Court?" she diverted his attention from the thoughts that were no doubt churning furiously through his mind.

"My Köstebek tell me that the message was delivered safely to her Majesty, and that the Queen will be expecting us. So, I believe that you should begin packing, _anne_. We will be returning to Court as soon as Rose and the children are safely delivered home." Ibrahim said gravely, but his eyes belied the true feelings he had on going back to the hot-bed of intrigue that was Court. He was actually looking forward to it, and to stirring up a lot of the intrigue of his own.

Lady Fatma left the study chuckling, knowing that the devious mind of Zmey was up to its old tricks again. With him going back to Court, they wouldn't know what hit them.

* * *

**Meaning of words used:**

_torunlar_ – Turkish for 'grandchildren' (pronounced as _cho + rune + lar_)

_kiz_ – Turkish for 'daughter' (pronounced as _cuz_)

Köstebek – Turkish for 'mole' (pronounced as _kush + tay + beck_)

_anne_ – Turkish for 'mother' (pronounced as _an + ne_)

_shlyukha_ – Russian for 'whore' (pronounced as _shh + loo + kha_)

_oğlum_ – Turkish for 'son' (pronounced as _oh + lum_)

* * *

AN: Thanks so much for all the support you guys! Reading the reviews is always like that extra kick to write more. Hope I did not disappoint with this episode of "Why get mad? Get even." We will get to see Rose's response to all the drama in the next installation, so stay tuned for more


	7. Unwritten

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Unwritten**

The Çırağan Palace Kempinski was all aflutter this particular morning. The hotel had always enjoyed its fair share of functions and conferences, being one of the premier hotels in Istanbul, with its strategic location on the shores of the Bosphorus coastline and five-star hotel status helping its reputation along. However, this morning was a special day for the hotel. One would ask why it was so special. Well, four words would answer the question – Rhiannon Mazur press conference.

For the past couple of days, the hotel and its' surrounding inns had been filling up with reporters from all over the world. Whether it was from purely entertainment news reporting companies, to the more major news centres, they had all sent a representative for this once in a blue moon event. It wasn't often that a world renowned model personally assented to answering questions at her own press conference, besides the point that she was holding said conference to give them the answers to some questions the whole world wanted to know about in the first place. That she was also the (confirmed) daughter to Turkish business tycoon Ibrahim Mazur was another selling point for the press conference.

The gag order that had been slipped into the contracts (and which was still being enforced) was the best encouragement journalists needed. They couldn't dig for anything, but she was volunteering information now. If they could actually score a one on one interview, it would be a feather in their cap. This could later on lead to more interesting and engaging news stories, which would be a great help in the long run. Besides, Ibrahim Mazur was well known to be very protective of his family. That he was letting his only child speak out was an actual miracle itself!

By nine a.m., the hotel foyer was flooded with journalists the world over. It looked like a journalist convention, or perhaps more like an event that head of states organised. That this was all for the press conference of one model; albeit an internationally acclaimed one, was quite astonishing in itself. The press conference was to be held in the biggest ballroom that the hotel had. _After all_, Abe had said, _if one was to do a show, why not go out with a bang?_ So, he had booked the biggest ballroom that the hotel offered, and orchestrated the entire event so that it was one big show which would leave an indelible mark in the history of show business.

* * *

Rose was anxiously awaiting the time for her to enter the ballroom where her press conference was going to be held. It was essentially her official goodbye performance as Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur, and it was going to be held before the entire world (this being a live broadcast for several media companies in the US of A). The bombshell that she was about to drop was sure to shock a lot of people, and she didn't want to think of the reactions her colleagues would have at her news.

She had to play the part of international model _and_ beloved princess of business tycoon today though. It was a bit trickier to find the balance between the two roles, but since she was retiring the persona of Rhiannon Mazur after this, she could do away with the façade of blonde ingénue that Rhiannon was well known for and attend more as her real self. This meant that she could show the more serious side of herself, the one that had been cultivated by her _baba_ during their lessons about the business empire that was Mazur Consolidated.

She had not known that the Mazur clan was a very wealthy clan when she came to stay with her father six years ago. He had apprised her of that fact, and also the fact that their wealth not only came from the business deals he had with vampire society, but a substantial amount of their current wealth had come from his dealings in the human world. In fact, their entire family had a long history of trade with the human world, whether it was in the form of goods, services or the family business of secrets acquisition. The five years before her emergence on the modelling scene was spent under the tutelage of her father on the ins and outs of their family business, as she was expected to take over the business one day.

To play her part today, Rose donned back the persona of Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur. Her hair was back to its blonde colouring as Rhiannon, and her facial features were just that little bit different, all courtesy of the thumb ring and belly button ring that powered this particular face. She had chosen a more subdued colour to wear today, as a subtle indication of her desire to leave the world stage of show business and retreat back into the shadows. So her dress reflected her mood, being a creation of cashmere in shades of grey, with long belled sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She paired it up with sheer black tights and white lace flats, and with her blonde ringlets pinned back from her face with silver rose shaped combs, she was the picture of solemnity indeed.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She sighed heavily as she stood and headed to the door separating her from the world. Guess it was show time – so time to put her game face on.

* * *

When Rhiannon Mazur walked into the Mabeyn Ballroom, the entire room held its breath at the vision before them. The young woman who walked through the doors looked exactly like the iconic model that they all knew, but the feeling of blonde ingénue that she always gave off was missing. Instead, it was a more serious and worldly version of her that met their inquisitive gazes.

Coming in behind her was her father, the reclusive business tycoon Ibrahim Mazur himself, but the real eye stopper was the gorgeous blonde Viking walking side by side with Rhiannon into the room. The man was tall, eclipsing Rhiannon's height as she only reached his chest, making him at least a foot taller than her. He was dressed in all black, which set off his steel grey eyes and golden blonde hair, and the propriety hand that he had around her back set off question marks in every reporters' head.

He pulled out her chair for her then stood just slightly behind and to the right of her, looking out at the crowd of attentive faces with a blank mask. Their inquisitive stares didn't seem to bother him, and as he seemed to be some sort of body guard for Ms Mazur, the reporters soon lost interest in him. Their focus turned to the father-daughter duo, of which it was the elder who opened the show.

"Rhiannon will be giving her statement momentarily. We ask that you not interrupt with questions during the speech. We will be opening the floor to questions after the session, but we still have the discretion of not answering the questions asked. So without further ado, I present my daughter, Rhiannon." Abe said solemnly.

"I would like to address the issue of the pictures that were taken and the subsequent stories that sprung up as a consequence after. They say that a picture paints a thousand words, but the pictures taken were of an illegal nature in the first place.

You all know of my family's history. We have had kidnapping and murder attempts for many years, which is why it was only after I reached adulthood that my father formally acknowledged my existence to the world. I had been doing the same thing for my three children, but one story hungry photographer blew all our carefully laid plans out of the water. Now, the world knows my children's faces and they are vulnerable to predators who want to make a quick buck on the legacy of Mazur Consolidated.

Just that morning the story broke, there was a kidnapping attempt by one such predator. It was done in broad daylight, right under the glare of the media at LaGuardia Airport, and if my daughter were not such a shy girl, she would have been taken away from my side and put in harms' way.

The pictures themselves were a violation of my family's privacy. We were having a private family outing, and the location of pictures taken is actually considered family property, so not only was it an invasion of privacy, it was also trespassing.

Next, I would like to clear the air in regards to my children's parentage. I resent the stories that paint them to be illegitimate or love children of mine. That you also dragged two of my good friends into this mess is inexcusable. My children are neither love children, nor are they illegitimate. My long-time partner and I chose not to register ourselves in the civil court, but in the eyes of God we are man and wife. Our children are a product of our love, and not some dirty secret that I have been hiding from the world.

My two friends, whose names will remain anonymous for security reasons, are just that, my friends. They are happily involved with their significant halves, and I am thankful to have them through this difficult time. That's all I will be saying for now. Thank you." Rose finished her little speech.

"We will be accepting any questions that you have now. Remember, it is our choice whether to answer it or not though." Abe warned sternly. "The floor is now yours." A cacophony of questions came from the assembled reporters, before Abe picked one reporter.

"Ms Mazur, this question is for you. You earlier mentioned your long-time partner. Could we have his name?" the sandy-haired reporter asked.

"My long-time partner prefers to remain anonymous, and I respect his wishes to stay out of the limelight. Next question."

"I'm from E! News. I believe that we all would like to know if your children are alright?" the second reporter asked. It was a sentiment echoed by everyone in the hall, as they didn't expect to hear that a kidnapping attempt had happened so fast.

"Thank you for your concern. Yes, my children are safe at home now, watching the live broadcast as we speak," Rose said with a relieved smile.

"How did you know about the attempt, Mr Mazur, and where are the kidnappers now?" this question was directed to her father.

"My guards had been alerted to the situation by the suspicious nature of the kidnappers' actions, and they cooperated with airport security to apprehend the culprit. The culprit(s) are now cooling their heels in a cell under guard of New Yorks finest, pending further investigation." Abe said, not disclosing the fact that his Köstebek had been a little too enthusiastic in the capture of said kidnapper, resulting in some bruises and a sprained wrist for the would-be criminal.

"Ms Mazur, what are you plans after this?" another reporter shouted. This was another question that burned in their minds. "Are you planning on continuing to model, or are the rumours of you dabbling in acting true?" he asked.

"There are no plans for me to go into acting in the near future. In fact, I have a confession to make." Those words, coupled with her grave expression, made the antennas that all good reporters have twitch. This was going to be some big news.

"I am officially retiring from the modelling world. I won't be renewing any of my contracts after their term is up. I will still be appearing for my current engagements, but more of my time will be devoted to family, and that is all I would like to say on the matter." Rose dropped the bombshell on the media present. She still remembered her conversation with her old man on this just yesterday.

_Flashback a day before_

_Rose headed into her father's study (which she secretly called his throne room) to discuss what had happened during the last couple of days._

_Ibrahim didn't beat around the bush, and immediately cut to the chase._

"_I did a preliminary press release on behalf of the family yesterday, when you were flying here," he said without preamble. "I told them to retract the stories and pictures, which is in accordance with the clause we had placed in the contracts."_

"_So, they should hopefully be taking everything down soon," Rose sighed in relief. She had been pissed and worried about how her awareness had waned so much so that a human had gotten the drop on her. That the pictures and stories were being taken down was a good thing._

"_You know what you have to do in this case, kiz." Abe said. Rose could only nod, resigned to this fate._

_One other stipulation her father had insisted on was that as soon as the business (meaning her modelling career) got her family involved, then she was to quit immediately. She had bargained with him, and got him to retract the order to quit cold turkey, but change it to a gradual slipping away from the limelight instead. It wouldn't be as abrupt, and it would leave less chance of people getting suspicious._

_They had thought up several counter scenarios for this situation when it cropped up. Honestly, come on, could a dhampir realistically live their entire lives under the glare of the spotlight without even slipping up and exposing their world? It just wasn't possible, and so they had to think of exit strategies for Rose._

_One strategy was for her to quietly slip away and live her life in anonymity as she faded from human memory (of which tinseltown's was especially short). Another was for her to get into an accident (staged, of course), and either succumb to the injuries or be so horribly disfigured that she couldn't stand to be in the limelight anymore. One other was for her to meet a rich businessman/associate of her father's, get in a whirlwind romance, get married and live the life a rich, untouchable society wife after that. This one was of course vetoed by -Rose; she couldn't stand the thought of living a lie for a much longer time just so she could be free in the end._

_What they had never thought of would be the world at large, and by extension the vampire world, to find out about her children. So, Rose came up with a plan on the fly, and she spent the afternoon refining it with the help of the foremost strategist in the world, her father._

_Return to current time_

The news that Rhiannon would be retiring to be with family was big news indeed. She had been in the business for only about a year, and she was still considered hot goods. Many brands and companies wanted her to be the official face for their brand, and advertisement and movie deals were still rolling in by the dozen. A lot of dreams would be crushed when the news of her stepping out of the limelight hit the stands. In fact, a whole generation of young men would be crushed that their golden goddess was actually taken and was finally settling down. There goes their future wet dream material…

Reporters the room over were in an uproar. They were all shouting questions at the Mazur duo, raising their voices so that they would be heard over the others, which made for a real racket. Some reporters whom were sceptical about the statement on her children's parentage took the opportunity to throw in some disparaging remarks and queries, which made Rose's blood, boil. She took a step forward as if she wanted to deal with them personally, but the large hand on her shoulder shook her out of her homicidal thoughts. She placed her hand over the restraining hand in thanks, but that small gesture incited another flurry of questions on the identity of the man beside her and of his relationship with her.

Taking Rose by the shoulders, the blonde Viking steered her out of the room and away from the zoo of animals that the ballroom had become currently. They had said their piece, the reporters had gotten their story, and they had cleared the air somewhat. People would still have questions, but Rose didn't answer to them, and they had no right to know about anything that happened thereafter. Besides, they were pulling out of the human world soon. So, it wouldn't matter anyway.

The trio moved to get to their cars as quickly as possible. Abe was picked up at the entrance of the hotel by his usual car, Pavel melting out of the shadows to guard him as usual. He had been missing from the ballroom, as the blonde Viking and Rose were enough to protect his charge from a roomful of humans, and his presence would only be overkill. Rose kissed her father goodbye, and together with said blonde Viking headed to an off roader parked just inside the hotel grounds. They got in, with Rose requiring assistance from the man to enter said car (it was quite high), before they too drove off.

* * *

A lot of people at Court had heard of the live telecast of the press conference the human model was holding. Many were curious as to what the human would say, as she was currently (unknowingly) involved in the scandal of the century at Court. The two men who were involved in it were given special dispensation to attend the live telecast in the council room by the Queen, as she herself was curious as to what would happen.

Even the Queen admitted that the human woman looked lovely when she walked on screen. The blonde giant she walked in with was quite intimidating though. When she was then followed by Ibrahim Mazur, the Queen was instantly suspicious. What exactly was going on now?

Many Moroi were wondering the same thing. They hadn't recognised the older version of the infamous Ibrahim 'Abe' Mazur when he first appeared, but then a couple of sharp eyed Guardian recognised the crest that was blatantly displayed on the tie pin of the older man. It was the symbol of a grey wolf howling at the moon, with said moon acting as a background for the wolf – the family crest of the Mazur family.

The Mazurs were a well-known family, with their numbers reaching the thousands. They were also the family with the most dedicated and skilled Guardians in their employ (outside of Blood Masters), as most Guardians in their family were actual family members. The Mazurs had acted as spies for the Court in bygone times, and in recent years they had churned out a lot of new weaponry for dhampir usage. Most didn't use it, as they preferred the traditional weapons of silver stake or swords, but those that did never complained.

Lissa and Dimitri went to attend the live telecast showing in the throne room as well. For her, it was because she not only wanted to see who it really was that had stolen the heart of the only man she was in love with, she also wanted to see said man in person. Christian had returned to Court just a few days ago, and yet not once had he come to see her. There were rumours that the Queen had been keeping them under lock and key, but he still could have at least written her a note or something telling her that he was back.

Upon laying her eyes on the purported third wheel of her budding relationship with Christian, she could see what would attract Christian to her. The woman had an hourglass figure that differed from most models on the human media nowadays, with a headful of blonde ringlets and brownish amber eyes. She looked very exotic, which with her lightly tanned skin made her look like a living doll. That she also was shorter than Lissa didn't detract from her beauty, in fact it gave her a more delicate air that belied her true strength of character – to have caught Christian's eye, it was not only the packaging that mattered, but what's inside as well.

As for him, his main purpose was to watch over his charge wherever she went. But for the last few days, after he had seen the still of the human woman, Dimitri realised that for some odd reason, he couldn't keep her off his mind. He wondered who she was at odd times of the day, and where normally he wouldn't pay attention to gossip, his ears perked up whenever she was mentioned in passing. Several times he had to stop himself from chastising the women who spoke of her in disparaging tones, no matter whether they were dhampir or Moroi.

These continuous thoughts on one human woman was messing with his mind, and he rebuked himself sternly for even thinking about another when he still had yet to atone for the sins he had committed against the woman that he truly loved. But it seemed that all self-recrimination was for naught when he saw her in the flesh for the first time. She was truly a lovely woman, and the short glimpse he got of her fire was enough to keep his interest stoked. The heart wants whatever it wants, and it seemed that his heart had room left for another besides his Roza.

However, he couldn't help but glare at the blonde man who walked in beside her. Throughout the press conference, he couldn't help but feel that the man was not just any ordinary bodyguard. He noticed that the man's attention wasn't kept on the room of reporters; instead it seemed to be focussed on the woman who currently had the attention of the world. His gaze never strayed far from her, and when he put a hand on her shoulder to restrain her from reacting to some reporters' taunting, Dimitri suddenly felt like hurting him. These feelings he had were quite irrational, but for some reason he just disliked the man from the start.

The Moroi in the room murmured lowly among themselves throughout the entire interview session, not willing to incite their Queen's ire (she was paying rapt attention to the live telecast). Only when it concluded with that shocking news (for the humans) did they give voice to their own opinions.

"Wasn't that Ibrahim Mazur on screen just now?" one of the Voda men asked. The others in the room who had seen the Moroi before (which weren't really that many) voiced they're assent.

"Who's Ibrahim Mazur?" a younger Moroi man asked his father.

"Who is he, you say? He is only just one of the wealthiest Moroi bar the Royal families." It was one of the older Zeklos men who answered this query.

"If he is a Moroi, why did he show up for a human's event, and even claim that woman to be his daughter?" another young Moroi woman asked this time. This sentiment was echoed by many of the younger generation.

"How should I know what goes on in the mind of that man?" said Zeklos answered crossly.

"Maybe he is trying to out us to the humans!" one of the excitable women (a Moroi of course, what else) said dumbly.

"Don't be an idiot. He wouldn't do that, as it would only put him and his family in danger as well." Her mother chastised in a lowered voice, but in a roomful of vampires with enhanced senses, she might as well have been shouting at her daughter.

"Or maybe the woman was not actually his daughter, and he is just protecting her somehow." This suggestion had its merits (not being as stupid as the previous one being one of it), but for those who knew Abe, it didn't make any sense.

"He wouldn't be that charitable. Zmey doesn't do things for free," Lord Badica grouched. Being one of Zmey's business associates, he knew well how devious the Moroi could be. He never did things for free; there always was some hidden clause or way of repayment in every transaction he performed.

"Or maybe the woman was never human to begin with," Dimitri said from his corner.

Almost the entire room turned to look at him. Nobody expected a Guardian of all people to mention this more plausible reason. It was strange really, as if collectively the Moroi's intelligence dropped when they were gathered together for them to not have thought of this interpretation of the problem. Many turned to their neighbours to discuss this particular train of thought, wondering how true it might be.

For Dimitri, this was the more logical conclusion. If the Ibrahim Mazur claimed her as his daughter, then she couldn't be a human woman to start with. Also, he had thrown this answer to the room to see the reactions of certain people to this news. More specifically, Adrian Ivashkov and Christian Ozera, and their response did not disappoint. For just a split second, both men looked at each other, and there was clear alarm across their features before they hid it behind carefully cultivated masks again.

This could mean one of two things – his answer could be closer to the truth than he had realised, or it was the truth, no matter how strange it was.

"Didn't somebody mention that her name was Hathaway Mazur? Any relation to the Guardian Hathaway?" some enterprising soul mused out loud.

"True, how come we didn't think of that?" another answered him.

They all knew of one child that Abe had with the Guardian Janine Hathaway – Rose Hathaway, the trouble-making Novice who had been assigned to some older Moroi upon her graduating St. Vladimir's. This couldn't be her, as this woman not only moved like a real woman should; she was also sexy and very, very _blonde_. Her features were also different from the aforementioned Hathaway girl, whom also did not take on the Mazur name. So, could this be a different daughter of Abe's with the Guardian Hathaway? They had heard of another daughter of Abe's that was helping her father with his business. Could this be she? Some turned to the two Moroi who seemed to know Rhiannon well for some answers.

"Lord Ivashkov, Lord Ozera, you two seemed to know this woman well. Maybe you can enlighten us on what you truly know about her." Lord Zeklos said as he turned to the young men before him. However before he could dig up anything else, the Queen intervened.

"My dear Moroi, I believe that we will be getting all our answers soon. My loyal subject Ibrahim will be coming to Court with his family by the end of this week." Queen Tatiana announced, saving Christian and Adrian the bother of answering any other questions. She then stood from her throne and motioned for the young men to follow her, and swept out of the council room after that.

The entire room was left abuzz with the news that the Ibrahim Mazur was coming to Court together with his family. Many were wondering which family member that he would be bringing along with him, and they all thought that it was high time for the younger generation to get to know about the infamy of the Mazur family head, as well as the immense wealth that he held in his hands. Who knows, someone might be lucky enough to catch his eye?

* * *

Life at the Citadel continued on as usual despite the press conference that had occurred that morning (human morning). It was still slumber time for the Moroi members of the family, while the dhampir members went about their usual duties, be it guard duties or the daily running of the household. They all knew of the upcoming trip that their _Klan Başkanı_ and immediate family were going on to Court (they had all heard of the summons by their reigning monarch), and the servants were busy preparing everything for the trip.

They packed the bags of the _Klan Başkanı_ and the _Maderşahi_, but refrained from touching the belongings of Heiress Rose and her children. She was notorious for wanting to do things on her own, and she had instilled that sense in her three children as well. They acted just like any dhampir Guardian would, which was probably due to her upbringing away from the clan at the academy.

The voice of Rose was soon heard coming from the car docks of the Citadel. She soon entered the house proper; walking side by side with the Guardian many had nicknamed the Viking due to his resemblance to the Viking warriors of old. They parted ways at the main stairs, with the Guardian heading towards his quarters and Rose heading towards the study of her father. She entered without knocking, knowing that the old man was expecting her.

"We are going to Court in two days' time, _kiz_." He said plainly, noting that his daughter hardly looked surprised by the news. Good, it seemed that his training of her observation and deduction skills had been put to good use.

"I understand _baba_. I at least would have been pulled before Court by now to answer for the supposed children I have had with two Moroi men. With news this big, how did I not get pulled in by now?" she queried.

"I informed her Majesty that the family will be going to Court to meet her and tell her everything. At least the more private and potentially dangerous news will be delivered in private. I will still have to present you to vampire society formally. They only know rumours and half-truths, and it's past time that I introduced the newest members of my clan to them." Abe said proudly.

"Aww, old man. Are you going soft on me now?" Rose teased. Her father half-heartedly threw a stake at her as she fled the room to see her children. There were a lot of things to prepare for, the least of which was her heart. She was going to see Dimitri and Lissa again, after six long years of being away from them.

* * *

The plane ride to Pennsylvania had been a long one. They had left the Citadel at around 6 p.m. in the human evening, meaning just after breakfast in the Turkish vampire world, and the whole journey to Court (including the ride from the airstrip to Court proper) took about 12 hours, so Rose and the kids got into one of the bigger sleepers and slept most of the journey through. It was only when they were about to land that the Viking woke them up.

Rose awoke to a hand brushing her hair from her face – her real hair, not the illusion. She had discussed it with her baba, and they had decided that she was going to drop most of the personas that she kept up for the last few years. So, that meant that she was finally combining the persona of Ameerah Mazur, Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur and Kali with her true self of Rosemarie Ameerah Hathaway Mazur. This of course meant that there was no more hiding her true appearance from everyone else besides the clan, so she forwent any of her charmed jewellery that powered the illusions she wore on a daily basis when not at home. It was the Viking who woke her, Valentin.

"Good evening, Valentin. Have we arrived yet, _bror_?" she asked, yawning into her hand. She leaned into his caress, as it was a very soothing habit they had developed since meeting.

"We're almost there, _søster_," he replied calmly, gazing at her with affection in his eyes.

"God, I wish it were already over," she complained, stretching languidly before turning half-lidded eyes towards the man beside her. "Could you wake the kids for me? I'll need a minute in the toilet to freshen up, cause we will need all our energy to coax the little monsters to behave later." She said jokingly, standing and heading to the adjoining washroom to wake up properly, uncaring of her mussed hair and sleep-ridden eyes in front of Valentin.

"Yes, my goddess." Valentin joked back as he gently shook the three children awake. "I know how much your little princess enjoys her sleep and how energetic the boys are just after waking, which when combined means an argument in the making."

He woke the boys first, who popped up in bed like little chicks asking for grub, their hair all mused up like Rose's when she just awoke, and they immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, pushing and shoving each other on the way there so that they could be the first to get clean. Valentin then woke the little princess that was Teagan, who like her mother disliked being woken before she had slept her fill, and refused to open her eyes. She scrunched them tight and burrowed under the covers further, purposely evading the large hand that was shaking her awake. By then, Rose had finished her ablutions and come out, so she joined Valentin on the bunk to wake her daughter.

"Tee, baby, it's time to wake up," she cooed, knowing how stubborn her daughter could be. She was just like her when she was younger after all.

"Don't wanna," came the muffled grouchy reply.

"Guess who's here to see you?" Rose cajoled her.

"Is it _büyük büyükanne_? I saw her already, Mama," the whining followed soon after.

"Does that mean you don't want to see me, _prinsesse_? Valentin asked in mock sorrow.

"Papa Valentin?" a little voice asked uncertainly. One eye peeked out of the covers, before a little body was throwing itself into the embrace of the man. "Papa Valentin, you came with us!" the little girl squealed happily.

"Don't I get an embrace?" Rose mocked grouched, as if hurt by her daughters' preference for her good friend. Teagan immediately let go of the big man, and flung herself into her mother's embrace. "Are we there yet, Mama?" she asked innocently.

"Almost there, baby. But we need to change our clothes now. You remember how I said that we will be meeting the Queen?" she asked as she brought her daughter to the bathroom to wash up. "Well, we need to wear some formal clothes when we meet her, then later on we will be meeting one of Mama's oldest friends ever, the princess Vasilisa Dragomir." She turned to mouth her thanks to Valentin, who nodded in acquiescence before heading out of the room, duty done for now.

"Will we see Papa there, Mama?" David asked solemnly. This was a question that had plagued them for years, ever since their Mama had told them about their Papa. They knew who he was, but Mama always said that it was too dangerous for them to meet. Now that they were going to Court, where Papa was, would they finally get to meet the man who fathered them?

"Yes, my darlings. We will all be seeing Papa there, but he doesn't know about you yet, so you will have to give Mama some time to explain things to him, okay?" she bargained with her children.

"Okay, Mama. But don't take too long." Mikhail added just as solemnly.

"We really miss Papa and we want to meet him," Teagan added her two cents in.

"Well, you can't meet your Papa looking like this, can you? Get into the tub now. We will need to dress you all up for we will be meeting the Queen after this." Rose said, ordering them all into the tub and then proceeding to give them all a thorough cleaning. The children were dressed in formal clothing after that, before she sent them out to her father and grandmother so that she could get ready herself.

The jet touched down not long after that, and the core Mazur clan (she and her children, with her father, grandmother, and one aunt who was their leading doctor and scientist) piled into three separate cars together with their respective Guardians and headed off to Court. They reached the Court in good time, and soon they were being ushered towards the Queen's public receiving room. They were by no means the only people meeting the Queen today, but the large turnout in the room was specifically to see them, or more precisely Rose and her children.

For this occasion, Rose dressed the part of her dual roles, as the Guardian to her grandmother (non-existent as it was) and also as the daughter to the Ibrahim Mazur, _Klan Başkanı_ Mazur. She wore a silvery white high collared sleeveless dress, which had a long skirt that nearly touched the ground. However, there was a thigh high slit on the right side of the dress to give her more mobility. She wore a pair of heeled black combat boots on her feet, and she kept a silver stake strapped to her right thigh and left arm despite going to see the Queen in a non-combat situation. Her hair that was her pride and joy was pile up into a Grecian goddess updo, and her customary silver cobra headband was threaded through her hair, though she deactivated the veil this time around.

It seemed that there was full house in attendance by the time they arrived. Rose did a last minute check on her children's attire, and after taking a deep breath, nodded to her father. He signalled to the herald, who turned to the room at large, and announced them.

"The _Klan Başkanı_ Mazur and the _Maderşahi_ Mazur, Ibrahim Mazur and the Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur," the herald announced loudly. The moment of truth had finally arrived – it was time to face the music. With one last deep breath and a reassuring hand on the shoulder from Valentin, Rose followed her father and grandmother through the large doors to the receiving room.

* * *

Dimitri and Lissa were among the people with a great vantage point in the receiving room this particular morning (Lissa had been seated just a little further from the dais and Dimitri by default of being her Guardian stood right behind her). They watched the Queen receiving the Moroi from her throne, but their attention was riveted to the door when the herald announced the name Mazur.

A man stepped through the doors with an older woman by his side. They both looked very distinguished, and many recognised Ibrahim Mazur from the telecast, so the woman beside him must be the Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur. People were wondering if only Ibrahim and his mother came, when a vision of dangerous beauty came waltzing through the door, bringing with her three small children. The Viking from the telecast and two other women completed the procession that was the Mazur family, with Dimitri and the others at St. Vladimir's years ago recognising one of them as Rasheeda Mazur, the woman who took over Dimitri's position of Rose's mentor.

The procession stopped a foot before the dais, and the men (including the two little boys) bowed to Queen Tatiana, while the women curtsied. Many didn't seem to recognise the familiar face in the group.

Dimitri himself couldn't keep his eyes off of the vision in white before him. He finally saw her after all these years – his Roza. He would recognise her beautiful face anywhere. She hadn't changed much, yet she had also changed a lot. Her hair was longer, that was the first thing that he noticed. Then he realised that her figure was fuller, with her bust and hips being slightly more substantial than six years ago, making her waist seem even tinier in comparison. She carried herself with a dignity and grace that hadn't been as pronounced years ago, and it made her seem even lovelier in his eyes.

Their eyes met momentarily, but she quickly averted her gaze, choosing to stare ahead instead. In that one gaze, he could see the longing that he knew must be reflected in his own eyes. The air between them seemed to crackle with electricity, and Dimitri was already planning on how to get her alone later so that finally have that long delayed talk they should have had all those years ago in the church, instead of the botched attempt of his to keep her safe by pushing her away.

Then, Ibrahim Mazur stepped forward and dropped another bombshell in the room. "Your Majesty, I would like to formally introduce my family to Court. My mother, Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur and her Guardian Valentin Christenson, my cousin Dr Alexa Mazur," the aforementioned people gave a nod to indicate who they were.

"And last but not least, may I introduce my only daughter and heir, Guardian Rosemarie Ameerah Hathaway Mazur, her three children and her Guardian Rasheeda Mazur."

The entire room was so silent for a minute that you could hear the ticking of the wall clock outside. If a person had farted, it would have been as loud as thunder. Then, a wave of sound followed this shocking revelation. One voice could be heard above the crowd, distinguishable by the shock, anguish and hope mixed within.

"Rose?" Lissa asked, her mouth dropped open in shock at learning that the woman before her was her best friend in the entire world.

"Hi Lissa, it's been a while hasn't it?" Rose replied cheekily, giving her a wink.

Rose Hathaway was back, and it seemed that she had become even more badass than ever.

* * *

**Meaning of words used:**

_Kiz_ – Turkish for 'daughter' (pronounced as _cuz_)

_Klan Başkanı_ – Turkish for 'Clan Head' (pronounced as _klan + bash + ka + na_)

_Maderşahi_ – Turkish for 'Matriarch' (pronounced as _ma + derr + sha + he_)

_Baba_ – Turkish for 'father'

_Büyük Büyükanne_ – Turkish for 'great grandmother (pronounced as _byuk + byu + kan + ne_)

_Søster_ – Norwegian for 'sister' (pronounced as _sos + tir_)

_Bror_ – Norwegian for 'brother' (pronounced as _brood_)

_Prinsesse_ – Norwegian for "princess' (pronounced as _prin + cess + sa_)

* * *

AN: Dear readers, so sorry for the delay in the story. So, to make up for it, I gave you guys a slightly lengthier chapter, and included the Court meeting in this chapter. The Court meeting is by no means over, as there are several revelations that need to be made still.

Also, Dimitri and Rose finally meet again (squeals in joy at home)! This is just a first glance, the real meeting and reveal will happen later, so much patience is required.

Who is Valentin Christenson? Guesses anyone? Whoever guesses right will get a virtual cookie. Review, review. Your reviews are all manna from heaven for this particular starved author.


	8. Confrontations

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Confrontations**

To say that the Queen wasn't amused by the announcement was like saying that the sky was blue. She turned her raptor like gaze on the culprit of the bedlam that the receiving room had descended into – Ibrahim Mazur, and wordlessly asked for an explanation for this new revelation of his. When the room refused to quiet down, she raised a hand to indicate for silence, and the room's occupants proceeded to shut their mouths. They could see that Queen Tatiana was not in a forgiving mood, and they were too intrigued by the chain of events to want to get thrown out just when everything was getting so interesting.

"What is the meaning of this, Ibrahim? We believe that you have promised us an explanation," the Queen said regally.

Ibrahim (as that was the role he was playing now) bowed to the Queen again, and proceeded to explain the entire situation to her. "My Queen, as I have just said, the young woman beside me is my daughter Rosemarie Mazur. Many at court would recognise her by the name of Rose Hathaway, perhaps?" he queried, which incited another round of murmuring from the courtiers.

He continued on, ignoring the muttering. "She is also known as Rhiannon Hathaway Mazur in the human world, in her guise as the international model there. Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I would like to assert that we had done everything in our capabilities to ensure that Rhiannon's connection to our world will never be found out. There is nothing connecting her existence to that of Rose Hathaway."

"Except the children," someone in the crowd muttered. This drew murmurs of agreement from many, and the gazes of the people in the room swung from Rose to her three children. Queen Tatiana's gaze turned towards them as well, and even she couldn't deny that the children were undoubtedly miniature versions of their mother.

All three children had fair complexions, the same as their mother, and they had inherited her dark brown hair. The boys' were straighter, but the little girls' was a riot of curls that cascaded down her back. Only the boys seemed to have inherited her eyes though, as the little girl had a pair of the bluest eyes they had ever seen. At first glance, it could be mistaken for the eyes of an Ozera, but upon closer inspection, one would realise the difference between them. Ozeras were known for having icy blue eyes, while the little girl's eyes were more of a sky blue that one would see on a clear sunny day. It was clear where she inherited them from if one were to look to the Lady Fatma – they had exactly identical eyes.

Rose gently nudged her children forward, and introduced them to Court formally. "These are my children. The eldest is David Emirhan Mazur," she indicated the little boy in brown cashmere sweater and black pants, "my second born is Mikhail Hakan Mazur," this time it was the other little boy in the forest green cashmere sweater and black pants, "and my youngest and only daughter, Teagan Feray Mazur," she tried to nudge her daughter forward, but the little girl stuck to her mother's side resolutely, hiding her face in her mother's skirt for good measure.

Rose smiled gently as she stroked her daughter's hair, not noticing the numerous dropped jaws in the room at seeing her maternal side or her gentle smile. "As you can see, she is a bit shy when meeting new people, so please excuse the rudeness, Your Majesty," she said to the Queen none too cheekily.

"We are not offended, my child. Come forward, children and let us see you." The Queen commanded of them, so with obvious reluctance Teagan let go of her mother and stepped towards the dais with her brothers. Both boys stood at attention under the scrutiny of the Queen, stances imitating that of Guardians at parade rest, making a lot of the Guardians in attendance chuckle at the boys' obvious imitation of their mother.

The little girl however held onto both her brother's hands as she stood between them, clearly uncomfortable with the stares. She was borrowing the strength of her brothers just to stand there, struggling not to run back and hide behind her mother again. Her indecision only made her delicate air even more entrancing, which immediately enamoured her with many of the dhampir and Moroi in attendance.

Children were considered a gift for both species, as their people had a history of difficulties in conceiving and carrying to term, so for Rose to have three children, with a girl child being born as well, was a thing worth celebrating. That the little girl in question looked so much like a doll brought to life was just a bonus. Many were tempted to go forward just so that they could hold her and pet her, or at the least pinch her cheeks to see if the blush would come out again.

Queen Tatiana looked at them with carefully hidden affection and pride, before addressing the white elephant in the room. "We have seen the children, but there are no doubt many who question who is the father to your children, Guardian Hathaway." The Queen continued, "You claimed that both Lord Ivashkov and Lord Ozera is not the father; then who was it who fathered your children?"

"I believe that this will answer all your questions, Your Majesty." Dr Alexa answered the Queen instead.

Alexa Mazur stepped forward to take this question and draw the heat off of her niece, at the same time deflecting the room at large from the even more shocking truth. She handed a file to the aide of the Queen, who after checking that there were no hidden traps within passed it to Queen Tatiana.

The Queen flipped to the first page straight away, and scanned through the results shown to her. Her eyes widened imperceptibly in shock, and she looked up at the Mazur family head immediately to ascertain the validity of the results that she was seeing.

"Is this true, Ibrahim?" the Queen questioned intently, needing to know that this was not some elaborate hoax.

"It is the absolute truth, Your Majesty," Abe said in a grave tone, making everyone curious as to the contents of the file. The Queen herself looked awestruck.

"Have you tested the compatibility with others?" Queen Tatiana queried, further confusing the courtiers. Compatibility? Of what? With who?

"We tested it with a range of samples from all over the world, my Queen – with both Moroi and dhampir alike." Dr Alexa answered this time. She was the one leading the tests on this issue after all, so she would know best how to answer any queries the Queen had.

"And you are?" the Queen asked imperiously. Alexa bowed and said, "Dr Alexa, the lead doctor on this matter, and the personal physician who observed the entire process."

"You were there for the entire thing then, from start to finish?" the Queen drilled her further. "Did you test whether this is transferable to others? What about the children then?"

"We could not test whether it would be transferable; the process itself is very invasive and could be detrimental to the further health of the subject. Also, the _Klan Başkanı_ prohibited us from further testing due to the ill health of the subject at the time," the doctor explained patiently. "I personally was not there at the beginning, as we did not know that a thing like this was possible, and the only people at the start of the entire thing were the subject and the partner of said subject."

"And the partner was…" the word Strigoi was left off, as the Queen had been shocked enough as it was. That Strigoi were even capable of impregnating anyone was miraculous news in itself.

"Not anymore, Your Majesty." Dr Alexa said, of which Queen Tatiana immediately understood the underlying hint as to who the partner was. There had only been one well known return from the 'dark side' in recent years after all.

"And the children?" this was another issue that the Queen needed to know urgently. Were the children compatible as well?

"Initial testing shows that the children are compatible as well," she answered calmly.

The Queen sat back in pure astonishment and awe. This news changed everything. She had been planning on giving the chit some light punishment, such as community service or some such other chore, then later on assign her to guarding Vasilisa, as she should have been doing long ago (wonder how that decision was changed?), but know that she knew the truth, the life of this woman was too precious to waste as a Guardian. She had a higher purpose to serve, after all.

"My Queen, we must discuss this issue further." Ibrahim interrupted the Queen's scheming thoughts. He knew that look on Queen Tatiana's face, and if she had her way, it wouldn't bode well for his daughter or his grandchildren. "We must take into account the feelings involved in this," he insisted.

The words were like a pail of cold water, pouring over her schemes and machinations. Tatiana realised that she almost showed her innermost thoughts to Court (not that her previous queries didn't display some of her most guarded emotions as it was), and so she shored up her emotions in an instant, and plastering her mask back on, she commanded the room at large.

"Today's receiving session is at an end. We will be adjourning to the study to discuss this matter privately, Ibrahim. We will require the attendance of the doctor as well as our own experts," Tatiana said authoritatively. Ibrahim could only bow his head in acquiescence, knowing that he had just dodged a bullet (the Queen looked set to expose the entire thing to Court just now).

Standing from her throne, the Queen descended the dais and moved towards Ibrahim, who in automatic response offered his arm to the Queen. She took it, and they moved off, with Dr Alexa following, but not before Queen Tatiana dismissed Lords Ivashkov and Ozera from following her.

"We do not require your services this day, and since the issue has been satisfactorily explained to us, you are free to do as you please for the day. But remember, your punishment still stands," she pre-empted their protests by adding, "since you were careless enough to be caught unawares by humans, after all."

Both men could only sigh, knowing that the Queen was only giving them a temporary reprieve. They still had to pay for keeping their involvement in the human world, no matter how brief, a secret from her Majesty. Queen Tatiana didn't like secrets, especially those that excluded her involvement. _Only we are allowed to keep them at Court_, that's what she liked to say after all.

"We understand, Your Majesty. We will receive the punishment with the grace that befits our station." Christian was the one who answered for both men, knowing that Adrian would only botch it up by trying to play it cool.

"See that you do," Queen Tatiana said coolly, before heading off towards her study, all the while being trailed by a bunch of courtiers intent on being invited to this 'secret' conclave that was about to happen in the royal study.

One of the many Guardians detached themselves from the dispersing crowd and offered to show the remaining Mazur family and their Guardians their dwellings for the duration of their stay, but the approach of Lissa and co. stalled this particular effort. The Dragomir princess herself seemed on the edge of a public breakdown, which Rose knew would potentially hurt her standing in the running for monarch, so suggested a compromise.

"_Büyük Büyükanne_, maybe you would like to retire to our apartments first? I'd like to catch up with my old friends first." Rose suggested to her grandmother.

Lady Fatma smiled. She knew what her granddaughter was actually asking for, and she approved whole-heartedly. She was of the opinion that Rose should have been honest from the very beginning. Maybe then this whole mess wouldn't have even occurred. Who knew what might have happened then?

"I am feeling a bit tired, _torun_. Perhaps I will retire for now; I can catch up with the news later," the old bird hinted that she would like to know what happened after she explained everything to her friends.

"Do you need my assistance, _Maderşahi_?" Valentin questioned his charge. You never knew what the Lady Fatma would order you to do next. The old woman shook her head, and released the Guardian from his duties.

"No, Guardian Christenson, Rasheeda will be enough to help me, you take care of my _torun_ and _büyük torun_ instead." She may approve of being honest with the man, but she definitely did not approve of his treatment of her granddaughter. He needed a little jealousy to shake things up a bit, and Valentin seemed all too happy to provide said jealousy.

"Say goodbye to great-grandma for now," Rose nudged her children forward. Both Mikhail and David rushed to embrace the older woman, before giving way to Teagan to hug the older woman tightly. They all said their goodbyes, before the Lady Fatma left with the first Guardian and Rasheeda Mazur.

Rose then turned towards the little crowd that had gathered during her brief conversation. Lissa, Dimitri, Eddie, Adrian, Christian, and Mia had gathered to welcome her back to vampire society after her six year hiatus, and then her subsequent return in style.

"Damn little dhampir, you definitely made a splash when you came to Court. How does it feel to be back after six long years?" Adrian asked, slinging an arm around Rose. Or at least he tried to, before Rose dodged his arm and proceeded to give him a punch in the side.

"Adrian, what did I tell you about personal space?" she said in a dangerous tone, which led to him holding his hands up in surrender.

"Rose, Rose," Eddie tsked as he embraced his old friend. He had hadn't seen her in years (contrary to what many thought) and she had gotten sassier than ever. "You just had to sass the authority, didn't you?"

"You know me, Eddie, always rebelling against the fascists," she joked, referring to that long ago time when she had called the teacher in kindergarten _that_ when asked to practice writing her name.

"Could you not cause any more trouble, little sister?" Christian asked, sighing at her antics. She had been a paparazzi magnet out in the human world too, attracting attention wherever she went, intentional or not.

"I never go looking for trouble, Sparky," she cheeked. "Trouble comes looking for me instead."

"You owe me an explanation of _all_ this," Mia said bossily, before succumbing to the urge to hug her. "I really missed you, you know?"

Rose happily hugged her back, saying, "I know, I missed you too. Many of my schemes missed your delicate hand as well," she added the last half-jokingly. Then, she turned to the two people whom she had had no contact for the last six years.

"Rose, I…" Lissa started, tears brimming in her eyes, but she was cut off when Rose pulled her into an embrace, re-establishing the bond of sisterhood that had been missing for the past six years.

"Shh, I know." Rose said lowly, holding back her own emotions. "Not here though, Lis. We'll talk after this, all of us, in your room," she said. "I think that I owe you all an explanation, at least."

"Damn straight you do, little dhampir. We have been involved in as many schemes as it is, the least you could do is offer to tell us why." Adrian piped up. This broke up the group, making them all laugh, except one person.

"Roza." One word, filled with so many emotions that it hurt even the people just listening.

Rose turned to look at the man who had dominated her thoughts for the past six years. She really looked at him this time, and noticed that he had changed much in the years that they had been apart. His features had matured even more, becoming even more chiselled. His hair was slightly longer as well, but he still kept it in the customary low ponytail that he had done it in all those years ago. His muscles had filled out though, becoming tauter it seemed, which made Dimitri in uniform even yummier than before.

It was his eyes though that caught her attention. Those soulful brown eyes had a wealth of unspoken emotion hidden within, and she caught glimpses of longing, sadness, regret, lust, some jealousy and dared she hope, a little love as well? She stared right back, almost daring him to look into her eyes to see what it was reflected within. The air between them fairly sizzled with unrequited emotions, you could practically feel it. It was the voice of her, no _their_ children that snapped them out of their impromptu staring contest cum soul baring session.

"Mama, I don't feel so good," Teagan whined softly. Rose swiftly turned her attention towards her youngest, knowing how easily her old sickness flared when she was tired or nervous. She immediately swung the little girl into her arms, and totally ignoring the others, reached out a hand to Valentin. He in turn handed her the inhaler he always kept in his back pocket, noticing but not minding the stares at their totally silent and instinctive interaction.

"Do you need the inhaler, baby?" Rose asked worriedly. When Teagan nodded, she immediately shook the inhaler vigorously, before placing the mouthpiece of the inhaler before her daughters' mouth and wordlessly asked her to open up. She then pressed the top once, as Teagan took slow breaths. When she went to press another time, the little girl shook her head, indicating that it wasn't necessary. So, after taking it away from her daughter's mouth, she wordlessly handed it back to Valentin, again without any prompting the blonde Guardian took it from her and wiped the mouthpiece clean before storing it back in his pocket.

"Man, it's freaky how in tune you guys are," Eddie commented, seeing how Rose and the blonde Guardian just communicated without any words involved. The only other person who had had this level of familiarity with Rose was Dimitri Belikov, but that had been years ago. It looked like there might be some competition for Rose's attention, after all. This bore further watching.

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Lissa asked worriedly. She too had become entranced with the children of her best (?) friend, especially her doll like daughter. They were just irresistible, and to know that one of them might be sick was worrying.

"Yeah, she'll be fine." Rose sighed out loud. "This is just an old ailment, nothing to get so worried about," she reassured them.

"So, what are we waiting for? Time waits for no woman, and I need to know everything!" Mia exclaimed. Lissa responded to this overt prompting by leading them towards her quarters, all the while catching up with the people who had been her closest confidants a long time ago.

Rose kept Teagan in her arms as they walked, while her other hand was held by David, who in turn was holding his brother Mikhail. The picture they created should have looked maternal, but to the two silent Guardians following in back (Dimitri and Valentin), it was undeniably sexy instead. The two had stationed themselves behind the group to look out for any threats, but they found themselves distracted by the alluring feminine form before them instead. Rose didn't set out to seduce anyone, but her normal walk was a combination of her modelling training and her dance lessons, resulting in a mesmerising sway to her hips as she walked.

Both men didn't talk to the other, choosing instead to keep their silence and distance, instinctively realising that the other man was a rival for the lady's feelings. There was a tension between them, and a single spark could ignite a war the likes of which Court had never seen, all over the hand of a single woman. Albeit, many would have to admit that the lady in question was a specimen of womanhood that any red-blooded male would have to be blind to not notice.

The troupe reached Lissa's room without further incident, and she quickly invited them in. Her nervousness showed through though by the way that she plumped a few pillows fussily, before inviting them to sit down. The Morois immediately found seats, with Eddie going to stand behind his charge/girlfriend instead. Dimitri and Valentin preferred to stand, going so far as to stand in opposite corners of the room to show their subtle enmity, not that Rose noticed at the time.

The moment had finally come for her to bare all, and she was stuck. She didn't know how to start, without at least hurting some feelings in the long run. The only person who had an inkling of the inner turmoil she was experiencing was Valentin, and her _bror_ wasn't inclined to be charitable at the moment (for some unknown reason). However, it was her children who solved the dilemma for her.

David and Mikhail had wanted to go to their Papa ever since they had seen him in the big room just now. They hadn't rushed to him then, because according to Mama, they needed to greet the Queen, and then they needed to meet her oldest friend in the world ever, the Princess Lissa Dragomir (they did pay attention to their lessons with _büyük büyükanne_!). Well, they had already met the Queen, who looked pretty old by the way, and they had also met the princess. So, when the door to the room was fully closed and everyone was inside, both boys let go of their emotions and indulged in a long anticipated dream of theirs.

"Papa!" both boys screamed joyfully as they bounded over to Dimitri, hugging the shocked Guardian around the knees (that's how high they reached compared to his height). Dimitri, dumbfounded, could only hug them back as he stared at Rose in shock and bewilderment. What the hell just happened?

"Uhm, surprise?" Rose said weakly to the room. There were various exclamations of 'What?!', which was followed by an exclamation from Lissa that further shocked the room.

"Holy shit." Lissa said, stunned by this latest turn of events. She even stunned herself by saying that profanity out loud.

"You've definitely got some explaining to do," Mia said, even more determined to wring the story out of Rose now.

"Hell yeah, you can't leave us hanging with just this revelation," Adrian demanded belligerently. After all, he had met with Rose quite a few times over the years, and she had plenty of opportunities to tell him this news.

"Later, okay? When little ears are not around to hear all this," Rose pleaded with them, indicating her lightly dozing daughter and hyperactive but starting to droop sons.

"Come on, Rose, my room is this way," Lissa said, leading her friend and her three children further inwards. The children needed the rest, and Rose looked like she could use the opportunity to compose herself before the firing squad began.

"Thanks, Lis." Rose said gratefully. She really needed this time to strengthen her inner reserves.

"Don't mention it. What are friends for, right?" Lissa said lightly, to which Rose smiled. Their friendship definitely had hope of being mended, now if only the other relationship wasn't so tricky.

Out of the mouths of babes, indeed.

* * *

Rose came back into the room fifteen minutes later, after successfully settling the little ones in Lissa's bed (they were still tired from the flight and not used to the jet-lag). She had had time to settle her wildly beating heart, and the other occupants of the room had had time to let the shocking revelation set in.

"Okay, Rose is back, so can we start with the explanations please?" Mia asked impatiently. This was definitely a story she wanted to hear the clarification of.

"Before we begin, could somebody tell me who the hell is he and why is he here with us?" Adrian said bluntly, pointing to Valentin who had been lounging casually in a corner, as if being alone in a roomful of strangers was nothing new to him.

Valentin lazily stood straighter and introduced himself.

"My name is Valentin Christenson; you can call me either Guardian Christenson or Guardian Valentin. As to why I am here, it is to be a moral support for my _søster_, and also to act as witness for her, should she need any," he explained plainly. The others gave him sceptical looks, not really trusting what he was saying, but tentatively giving him the benefit of the doubt on account of their long time association with Rose.

"So, where do I start?" Rose mused half nervously, half exasperatedly. She didn't expect her sons to be the one to break the secret, and in such an abrupt manner as well.

"From the beginning would be best." Dimitri said with a furious undertone in his voice. "What kind of joke is this, Roza? It isn't funny." She couldn't just raise such foolish hopes in him, only for it to not be true.

"I wasn't joking when I said that you are the father," Rose answered waspishly. "Do you think that I wouldn't know who the father of our children was?"

"You know very well that dhampirs can't have children together, Rose." Lissa said calmly, trying to diffuse the rising tension between the two.

"Yeah, well, the results in this file say otherwise." She brandished a similar file to the one that had been given to the Queen just now.

"What exactly does the file say, little sis?" Christian asked curiously. Everyone in the receiving room had been curious of the contents of the file that had made the Queen do a total one-eighty.

"Why don't you read it and find out for yourself?" she said as she passed the file to the nearest person, who coincidentally happened to be Dimitri. He flipped to the first page, and read through the summary of the contents for the entire file.

"This is a DNA analysis and health report file, Roza," he said after glancing at the title, "on you and the children."

"Yes, I know. Go on and read the rest," she encouraged, faking her nonchalance. Internally, she was panicking, wondering what his reaction would be to reading the whole thing.

"Read it out loud, will you Belikov? You're not the only curious one in this room." Adrian said from his comfy seat on the couch.

"Here, let me." Lissa said instead, snatching the file away from Dimitri's hands. She shot an apologetic look to Rose, who waved it away and just indicated for her to read the report out loud. Lissa immediately turned to her rapt audience and read the highlights of the summary.

"It says here that the DNA analysis and comparison done on the three children of the subject, Rosemarie Hathaway Mazur, has proven beyond doubt that 99.9% of their maternal DNA comes from the subject, and that 99.9% of their paternal DNA comes from the Guardian Dimitri Belikov," Lissa read out loud, trailing off to stare in astonishment at both Rose and Dimitri. The man in question was very surprised himself; he didn't expect a DNA test to prove the paternity of the three children.

"What else does it say about the little dhampir?" Adrian asked, leaning forward in interest. Valentin leaned forward surreptitiously as well, he had never asked nor dug deeper to find out what Rose's health report said. He figured that she would tell him when she was good and ready, if she ever did at all.

"It goes on to say that not only is the subject a compatible match for breeding with Moroi, the subject is also compatible with dhampir and Strigoi as well," Lissa said, horrified. There were exclamations of 'What!' and sounds of disgust from the people in the room. Dimitri even gave a little growl of anger.

"How is that even possible?!" Adrian yelped in horror. "How do they even know that you could get pregnant from that? Even saying that having sex with a dhampir can produce babies is pushing it, Rose."

"We don't know exactly how, but the doctors suspect that the combination of so much Spirit and me being shadow-kissed must have changed something in me. The doctors know, and can even prove it because my children are proof that it is possible for me." Rose said simply, dropping this other news on them. Lissa and co. stared at her, stunned speechless. Dimitri himself was horrified.

"When I took you in those caves, when I not only took your blood but also your body, I made you pregnant?" he said, as if saying it out loud would nullify the truth. He staggered to his feet, before standing before her as he continued, "I did those horrible things to you, and yet when you found out that you were carrying my child, you didn't get rid of it? Didn't you suspect that you could have been carrying the seed of a monster?" he queried, cupping her face in his hands tenderly.

"You are not a monster, Dimitri. I forgave you for what you did to me in those caves a long time ago. You may think that I was unwilling, but under the Strigoi, I could still feel the remnants of the love that you had held for me before you had been turned. That night, I had given myself to you willingly," she whispered as she leaned her head into his hands. They were finally touching, and she relished the feel of his skin on hers after so long without his touch.

"How could you even look at me after what I did?" he said in self-disgust. She took his face in her hands, and looked at him sternly. "Dimitri Belikov, I forbid you from being angry at yourself. It's all in the past, so we should just let bygones be bygones, and learn to live in the here and now. Aren't I and the children here now? They've been waiting to meet you so for so long."

"What happened six years ago, Rose? How is it that the bond suddenly broke?" Lissa said softly, reluctant to break up the reunion that had been six years in the making. Rose immediately looked to the side, avoiding the gaze of her friends.

"Tell me, Roza? Did something happen during the pregnancy?" Dimitri asked earnestly. He couldn't bear the thought that he hadn't known a thing and hadn't been there with her through the whole thing. Even now, the reality that he was a father to 3 six year old children was just sinking in, and he already felt very protective of all of them.

"It says that the children were born in December. That's," Lissa counted backwards, "one month premature," she exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, David, Mikhail and Teagan were preemies," Rose admitted.

"I remember that it was around the same time that the princess complained of chest pains when she was in school," Dimitri said, looking intently at the face of his lover. "She collapsed, screaming your name half a day later. Your bond had been ripped away, and the princess couldn't feel you anymore. We thought you were dead, Roza," he said shakily, giving voice to his acute fear of that time.

"We later heard that you were still alive, but the bond was gone, Rose. What kind of magic did that, can do that? Rip the bond between a shadow-kissed guardian and her charge apart?" Lissa demanded worriedly.

Rose mumbled something incoherent.

"What did you say, little sister? Care to repeat it a little louder?" Christian asked, just as worried about this new magic.

"I said that it wasn't magic," she said, all the while not looking at any of their eyes.

"Then what was it? Tell me!" Dimitri demanded as he gripped her arms tightly, his silent 'so I can protect you from it' left out of the sentence.

"I died!" she exploded as she broke away from his grip and walked towards a corner, wrapping her arms around herself as she leaned against the wall.

"Grandmother and I were coming back from the nearby bazaar. We had been looking for the Turkish delight sold there – I had insisted on going personally, it was my craving, I would buy it myself. We never expected to be ambushed outside the Citadel gates." Rose began the tale of her children's traumatic birth.

"A large group of Strigoi emerged from out of nowhere. Daylight was fading fast, but it was still light enough to deter most. This group were wearing head to toe body suits and hats – they had clearly come prepared. Since we were alone, I did my best to protect my charge. I didn't realise that my grandmother never needed any protection at all; she was more than capable of protecting herself. I managed to fend them off, but when I saw a Strigoi readying a stake against her back, my instinct took over," she said.

"They come first." Eddie intoned gravely, earning a grateful nod from Rose.

"I took the stake meant for her through the chest, and the trauma plus the fight triggered my labour." Rose stopped to gulp the water Valentin had silently gotten for her, nodding her thanks to him.

"What happened after that?" Mia asked, entranced and horrified by the tale at the same time.

"Parts of it were hazy after that, but I remember my grandmother holding the Strigoi off long enough for the Elite and normal Guardians in the Citadel to arrive to aid us." Rose continued, but was cut off by Valentin.

"I had been one of the first to arrive to aid the _Maderşahi_ and Rose. She had been slumped against a wall, a stake through her chest and blood beginning to seep through the skirt of her dress. She had been bleeding out, any longer out there and none of them would have survived." Valentin said sombrely. He still had nightmares occasionally of that time, of not getting there in time to save them.

"I remember being rushed to the Healing wing of the Citadel," Rose resumed the tale, as if she had not just been interrupted. "I remember the contractions coming hard and fast, of not being given any anaesthesia because it was already too late and too dangerous to do so, of it being so difficult to breathe," she said woodenly. "The Healers kept asking me to push – it was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I had been scared for my life, but I was even more afraid that my babies had been hurt during the fight.

The labour was long and difficult, but finally, my David was born, with Mikhail holding onto his heel and being born just seconds after him. Their cries were the most beautiful sounds in the world to me, but I knew that my little girl still hadn't been born yet. So, I continued to push, no matter how tired I felt, no matter how much I had wanted to give up; even if I died, as long as my children lived, I would have been content." Rose said, crying as she remembered her feelings of desperation at that time.

Dimitri moved forward to gather her in his arms, holding her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. There were sniffles all around, as even the men couldn't help but be affected by the tale. They discretely wiped their eyes; it wouldn't do to let their macho images be ruined by something as silly as tears. Dimitri couldn't be bothered; he let the silent tears be testament to the desperation and anguish he felt at the moment. He could have lost his family even before he had ever had a chance to meet them – any man would be teary after that revelation.

Rose proceeded with her tale. "Teagan was finally born about thirty minutes later according to the doctors, but she wasn't breathing. I didn't hear her cry, and I saw that her skin was blue and cold. I couldn't believe it, and I pleaded with them to save her, but everything began to get hazier after that. I heard a gurgling sound over the heart monitors, never realising that the sound was coming from me.

The doctors thought that the stake had just nicked my heart going in, so I should have been safe for a while until I had safely delivered the babies. They never realised that it had nicked my left lung as well, causing blood to pool in my lungs. I drowned, Dimitri. I died, drowning in my own blood," she exclaimed, gripping his arms tightly. "Don't you see? That's why the bond broke. I had died."

"How is it that you are still alive now?" Lissa asked tearfully. To know that someone you thought of as a sister had been through so much, and you hadn't been there for her, hurt something deep within. Christian, who had been sitting nearby, gathered her into his arms and let her sob silently.

"I remember dying Lissa. I crossed over to the other side, and saw Teagan ahead of me, being cradled there in the arms of a shadowy figure. That's when I realised that I didn't want to die. I wanted to live, to see my children grow up, to let them meet their father one day. So I ran towards the figure and snatched Teagan from their arms, then rushed back the way I came," she croaked lowly.

"It was difficult to move, as if something or someone was pulling me back to the other side. Then, I received a push in the back. It propelled me forward, and it became easier for me to move, as if the push freed me from something. I looked back just before I returned to the darkness and pain, and saw Mason there. He had been the one to give me that push," she said as even more tears tracked down her cheeks. Thinking of her departed friend and of how he helped her still brought tears to her eyes.

"Shh, you're here now, Roza. With me, with our children. I will never let anything happen to you ever again." Dimitri reassured her, silently promising to uphold this pledge till the day that he breathed his last.

"I woke up a month later. I had been in a coma; the doctors thought that I might never wake up again. But I did – I had my children to look after now, and there was a lot of the world that I had to teach them about. So, I underwent vigorous physical therapy and training to get back in shape after that, and here I am now." Rose ended simply, wiping the tears and snot away from her face.

"Is that why Teagan was ill?" Eddie asked gravely.

Rose nodded in reply. "The oxygen deprivation, plus being born premature caused some health problems for all of them. David and Mikhail are fine now, but Teagan got the worst of it.

She suffered the most traumas, and they were all tested continually for side-effects of being born early when they were younger. That's how the doctors found out that they as well as I were compatible with all vampire species. We are the perfect breeders," she spat out the last word like it were something foul on her tongue.

"How is it that news this big never got out?" Christian asked in astonishment. This was news indeed, someone who could have children with both Moroi and dhampir? People would go nuts vying for her hand, the shadier characters would kidnap her just so she could continually churn out children for them.

"The Mazur clan is a clan that deals in secrets on a daily basis," Valentin said from Rose's other side. He had moved forward to comfort his _søster_, but was a step too late. Dimitri had gotten there first. "This is also a secret that involves the _varis_ to the Mazur clan. No one would dare risk the wrath of the clan head to speak of this secret to ears not intended to know of it. Besides, all clan members are loyal to the clan."

"Can I ask a favour from you guys?" Rose said tiredly. There were murmurs of agreement and acquiescence from her friends. "Could you keep this secret to yourselves as well? At least the part about my children being just like me? Things are going to get dangerous enough as it is when the Queen announces my status to the vampires at Court."

"Why are you so sure that Aunt Tatiana will announce anything?" Adrian asked, a little miffed at her mistrust of his aunt.

"It's not that I don't trust the Queen, Adrian," Rose said, understanding where he was coming from. "It's just that this issue was blown to epic proportions before my father could contain it, and now that everyone knows, they will want to know the reason why it is so. My status will have to be revealed to appease the masses."

"I can protect you, Roza." Dimitri said determinedly. "I can protect all of you. We are a family, and I always protect what is mine."

"Yeah, we can protect you, Rose." Mia piped in as Eddie nodded his head vigorously. Christian and Adrian murmured their agreement, while Lissa looked longingly to her friend, wishing desperately to protect her as well as her children.

Rose shook her head as she detangled herself from Dimitri's arms. "You can't protect me forever, not from this," she put a hand on his cheek to lessen the sting of rejection. "I'm a big girl now and I can protect myself just fine. You can help me by protecting our children," she said softly.

"But…" he protested.

"I don't wanna be like Snow White, waiting for a handsome prince to come and save me. I can slay my own dragons Dimitri, I am my own knight in shining armour," she teased gently.

Dimitri looked very put out, but there was a hidden glint in his eye that his mother would have said was his scheming look. His Roza might be strong enough to stand on her own now, but he wasn't going to give up that easily. She was here now, and by hook or by crook, he was going to make sure that she stayed by his side and hopefully in his bed (in the future). Come hell or high water, Rosemarie Hathaway would be his once again.

"Can I stay with you for now, Lis? We could catch up on what's been happening in our lives," Rose suggested, to which Lissa agreed enthusiastically. They invited Mia along, but all the men were summarily kicked out of the room, no matter how much they pleaded to stay (Adrian and Eddie).

"Well, it looks like we're on our own now, boys." Adrian said bracingly. He was sore at being kept out of the loop (the girls were going to gossip, and he wanted in too, damn it).

"Err, Guardian Belikov, I've been meaning to ask you for some help on the katas you showed to me last month," Christian said hurriedly. God, he didn't want to be stuck with Adrian now. He would only whine about being excluded from the gossiping by the girls. Oh, if only his admirers (stalkers!) at Court could see him now.

"Yes, what would you like help with?" Dimitri asked, playing along for now. He too, knew of Lord Ivashkov's propensity for belly-aching.

"Do you need some pointers, Christian? I could be of some help too!" Eddie added in as well. He _did not_ want to be stuck with Lord Whiner. The three men casually (fake casual) moved away, talking shop.

Adrian pouted. It was just like them to leave him behind. Never mind, he could talk to the new guy!

"Guardian Christenson…" Adrian ended up talking to empty air. The blonde Viking had already vanished, presumably back to his quarters. Now who would listen to his concerns? He was bored, with nothing to do darn it! Then, he suddenly remembered that Sydney hadn't heard the news yet. He could call her!

Thinking that he would hear his girlfriends' voice soon, Adrian happily walked back to his room, unknowingly charming more hearts with the pleasant smiles he threw to the ladies at Court. Ah, life was great when he could talk to Sydney again.

* * *

**Meaning of words used:**

_Klan Başkanı_ – Turkish for 'Clan Head' (pronounced as _klan + bash + ka + na_)

_Büyük Büyükanne_ – Turkish for 'great grandmother (pronounced as _byuk + byu + kan + ne_)

_Torun_ – Turkish for 'granddaughter/grandchild' (pronounced as _cho + rune_)

_Maderşahi_ – Turkish for 'Matriarch' (pronounced as _ma + derr + sha + he_)

_Büyük torun_ – Turkish for 'great grandchildren' (pronounced as _byuk + cho + rune_)

_Søster_ – Norwegian for 'sister' (pronounced as _sos + tir_)

_Varis_ – Turkish for 'heiress' (pronounced as _vah + riss_)

* * *

AN: Finally finished this chapter. It kept on giving me headaches on how to continue on, and I deleted a lot of things at least three times or more.

So, tell me what you think of this chapter. Did the explanations and emotions inside make sense? There is definitely going to be drama in the next chapter up. So, stay tuned for more drama in 'Why get mad? Get even'.


	9. Fight club

**Disclaimer: The books of "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead and her publishing company. The only things I will ever lay claim to are the OC's that will pop up in this story and the AU storyline itself.**

**I am not making any money out of this venture and it is just an outlet for my creative juices.**

* * *

"Spirit Bound" AU. What if after "Love fades. Mine has", Rose decided that instead of being sad or getting mad, she would get even? She leaves St. Vlad's after graduation, dropping off the face of society. Six years later, she re-emerged as Rhiannon Mazur, daughter to the infamous Ibrahim Mazur, international model by day and Strigoi hunter by night.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Fight club**

Rose knew that she couldn't stay hidden in Lissa's room forever. She had opted for the safe choice of not confronting Dimitri when her emotions had still been so raw, but she and the girls had exhausted all topic of talk and were now lounging around on Lissa's bed, being mindful of the three kids sleeping nearby all the while. They didn't know what else to talk about, without touching on the giant pink elephant in the room – her unresolved issues with Dimitri Belikov.

She had been psyching herself up on the car ride to Court for her encounter with Dimitri, but it still didn't lessen the fact that seeing him again six years later, the effect he had on her was still as strong as ever. It was as if she was meeting him for the first time all over again – the impact was that strong. She had cautioned herself continually on the ride over to not get caught up in the whirlwind of emotions that he always evoked in her, to shore up the defences of her heart against the virus that was the Belikov Love bug, but it was all for naught.

One look was all it took for her entire world to tilt on its axis and start spinning in the other direction once again. She had been exactly like that six years ago, and six years later it seemed that she still couldn't escape the hold that Dimitri had on her emotions. Even now, despite only being in his arms for those scant few moments, she was struggling to rein in her wayward heart and stop herself from running after him and throwing herself into his arms, begging him to take her back again.

Oh, she had been tempted, very _very_ tempted to accept his offer of protection just now. They would just slide back into their old routine, with him calling her Roza and her calling him Comrade all the time, and him having to clean up after her mistakes again. But, where would that leave her, the _real_ her? She was not that young girl anymore, the one who still needed people to look out for her, the one who did things without much planning or thoughts on the consequences of her actions.

Six years had passed in the blink of an eye, and a lot of things could change in six years. For one thing, she was no longer that naïve nor impulsive. She was Rosemarie Ameerah Hathaway Mazur now, the only daughter to the current clan head of the Mazur family. Not only was she a mother three times over, she was also responsible for the lives of the people in the Mazur clan. As their _varis_, she not only had to uphold the clans' dignity and honour, she also had to think of everyone else's welfare and wellbeing. Her actions not only reflected on herself, it also reflected on her family now.

Just like she told Dimitri, she was not some Cinderella or Snow White figure that needed rescuing – she likened herself more to Maid Marion or Morgana, riding into battle and slaying her own dragons. She didn't need any mans' help, she could stand on her own two feet. Her family, especially her father, had taught her that she didn't need some man to validate her existence.

So, she had learned to pick herself up from the floor whenever she fell down, dust herself off and march onwards or try again until she succeeded. This philosophy had shaped her into the woman she was today, and she was not going to slide back into her old, bad habits again. She knew without a doubt after today, that if Dimitri ever had his way, she would be barefoot and pregnant half the time that they were playing house. The other half, well, she wouldn't even go there right now. Bad Rose, thinking about Dimitri naked again. Bad, bad Rose.

"I saw how he looked at you just now," Lissa said, breaking into her thoughts. She would have been blind not to, with how earnestly Dimitri had been staring at Rose the whole time. The air between them had been practically sizzling with passion ever since he first laid eyes on her in the receiving room.

"Yeah, me too. If his eyes could shoot fire, you would be naked and under him right now," Mia teased, eager to sink her teeth into the roiling pot of emotions that consisted the essence of the Rose and Dimitri show. "Why did you turn down his offer of protection, by the way, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I can't afford to show any weakness to anyone, Mia, not even to Dimitri," Rose said as she turned to look at two of her oldest girl-friends. "I don't just answer for my own trespasses now, I have to think of the whole picture, of how what I do and what I say will reflect on my family, my children. If I show even a hint of uncertainty, of not knowing what to do, the Moroi will descend on my family like wolves to a feast. Especially now, when my status as a perfect breeder will be public knowledge soon."

"How much time do you estimate you will have before the Queen announces your status to the world?" Lissa asked worriedly. She knew what it was like, people vying for your attention just so that they can get something out of being associated with you. For some, it was the fame of being known as the friend of a Queen elect; for others it was the benefits of being a known associate of the Dragomir princess. There was also the ultimate goal, winning her hand in marriage and being the next consort of the Queen, something the Court hadn't seen in quite a while. No wonder Queen Tatiana never married. It must have been just as hard for her.

"If my father can talk the Queen out of immediately proclaiming this fact to the world, for various security reasons of course, then I think that I will have several days to ready myself, a week tops," Rose replied pragmatically, already planning for what she needed to do next. She had to be at least two steps ahead of the game, or else she would end up swept out to sea by the intrigue and backstabbing that was the lifeblood of politics at Court.

"What would you need to prepare for… ah, say no more. I understand," Mia commiserated. She was from a minor Moroi family, and though they didn't have much standing, her mother had taught her all that she knew about the politics at Court. There were always alliances to be had, deals to be brokered and lost, and all the daily intrigue and gossip that constituted the humdrum of Court.

Lissa wouldn't really know much about it, seeing as one, she was the last Dragomir – meaning immediate high social status, and two, her late parents had strived to keep her out of all the intrigue that went on at Court. Rose however, as not only a dhampir, but also the only daughter to the infamously secretive and wealthy Ibrahim Mazur, and now with this new development of hers as well, needed to keep both eyes open. She had to be on the game at all times, because should there be even a whiff of weakness, she would be bundled off to the highest bidder at Court, so as to keep her safe and out of harms' way.

"So, what are your plans after this?" Lissa asked. She was worried for her best friend, and she wanted to do all that she could to help her.

"Anything that we can do to help?" Mia piped in, eager to get started on her own intrigue and rumour building. Ah, it was great to be at Court again.

"Can I take a rain check on you guys' offers of help?" Rose asked as she shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea what help I might need later on, so consider it some I.O.U's that you guys owe me." She yawned widely, stretching her arms. "But for now, what I want to do is find something to eat, take a shower, and a nap – all in that order."

"I'll call for some room service then," Lissa said, reaching for the phone by her bed-side.

"You mean take out, right?" Rose asked. Mia laughed lightly and said "Rose, to the Moroi at Court, the term take-out is not used for something like food. It's too plebeian, too crass."

"But that's the correct term of what we're doing right now," Rose said, just as amused. "It's called calling for take-out." From the other side of Rose, they heard Lissa mumble 'It's called room service, darn it', which lead to the two girls snickering.

"Anyway, I heard that Guardian Belikov and Guardian Castille had been teaching you guys some self-defence moves. How's that going by the way?" Rose asked them as Lissa called for their 'room service'.

"Well, Eddie has been teaching me all these cool moves that involve swiping the opponents legs out from under them, then pouncing and staking them," Mia gushed happily. Her guardian/boyfriend had been worried about leaving her unprotected, so once they had left school, Eddie had added more to the repertoire of moves that Mia had learned on her own.

Lissa shrugged a bit guiltily. "Dimitri had been teaching me some things, and I've picked up a bit of this and that, but I usually leave most of the fighting to him. He's always been there to protect me, even when I didn't know there was danger there," she said apologetically.

Both Rose and Mia shook their head. Only Lissa could be this unaware of the danger posed to her. Rose decided something then and there.

"Well, you won't be slacking off in learning to defend yourself. From now on, I will be taking over you guys' self-defence lessons. Eddie and Dimitri may have taught you some things, but there are some moves that are more tailored towards how women should move when taking down bigger opponents and the men most definitely won't know these. I'm sure that they tried their best, the poor things, but this requires more of a woman's touch," Rose said the last with finality.

Mia hugged her happily, glad to know that someone was doing their best to keep her alive, while Lissa resigned herself to the prospect of Hell later on.

* * *

True to her word, after the food, shower and nap time had been taken care of, Rose roused her kids from their slumber. The little boys popped up like Energiser Bunnies, revved up and ready to go. Her little girl was more placid, the earlier asthma attack having left her more listless and tired than usual. Herding them all out of the room (princess and all), they navigated the corridors to get to the Mazur apartments at Court. It turned out to be near Lissa's place (by Fate or by design?), and after changing into some workout gear and lending some to the two Moroi women, Rose left her three children in the capable hands of her _büyük büyükanne_. The three then headed over to the gym at Court.

The gym was actually a huge building of its' own, with a running track situated to the right of the gym proper. The building was divided into two sections: a smaller gym for the occasional Moroi that wanted to work out, and a bigger one for the Guardians at Court that needed to work out to keep in shape. They headed to the smaller one, since it was unlikely for others to stumble in and disturb their workout. Rose then proceeded to show them a set of katas designed specifically for women.

That had been half an hour ago.

Mia seemed to be picking up the katas well, what with her enthusiasm for learning and her interest in new forms of self-defence (she was one of the few Moroi women who encouraged others to defend themselves, huge Tasha Ozera fan). Lissa, on the other hand, wasn't doing so well. She understood the forms, she could even do them individually, but they couldn't click in her mind, hence she couldn't perform them in one continuous sequence. Rose tried many things to get her to link them up, but it seemed to all be in vain. Then, she had an idea.

"What about you guys see these moves being used for real?" Rose asked the two Moroi women. They were taking a break on the mats after working up a sweat (meaning the two Moroi), while Rose still seemed cool and fresh. This was just a beginner's kata after all, and even her children could do this in their sleep.

"How do you propose we do that?" Lissa said crossly. She was unhappy with herself for not being able to pick up the stupid moves, heck any moves at all. It's not as if she was dumb or anything like that.

"Come on," Rose said, hefting her duffle onto her shoulders and walking towards the door that separated the two sides of the gym. "We are going to find me a sparring partner, and you will see the real moves in action," she said as she grinned widely.

"Ooh, this I want to see," Mia cooed excitedly. It wasn't often that they got to see Rose during training, and she had not been active in the vampire world for six years. There were bound to be some new things that she had learned since then.

"How good are you now, Rose?" Lissa asked curiously. It had been years since they were together, and she wasn't sure whether Rose's skills had gotten better, especially with her being a mother and all.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Rose said cheekily as she led the two Moroi women into the Guardian section of the gym. She looked around briefly, before grinning again as she spotted someone. Luck seemed to be on her side after all. She turned to her two friends.

"Ladies, you are in luck today. One of the people who taught me those moves is here at the moment. I'll get her to come over, and we can do a fight demonstration to teach you the moves. So take a seat over here" Rose said, indicating the mat before them, "While I get my partner to come over." She then turned around and bounded over to a woman who was doing some accuracy training on another side of the gym. They talked briefly, before the woman followed Rose back.

Lissa was the one to recognise her first. "Aren't you the Guardian who took over the spot as mentor to Rose at the academy?" she inquired hesitantly.

"Yes, I am. My name is Guardian Rasheeda Mazur." Rasheeda, as that's who the woman was, introduced herself formally.

"Weren't you introduced as her Guardian just now?" Lissa asked, puzzled.

"Yes, I am unofficially listed as her Guardian. But the assignment has never been formalised," came the short reply.

""I remember you. You're the one who created that scandal/prank our senior year, just weeks before Graduation," Mia piped in excitedly.

"Yes, Rasheeda was my partner in crime then, and she is also one of the people who taught me all that I know now," Rose said proudly, slinging an arm over her cousin's shoulder.

"Well, the student has surpassed the mentor now," Rasheeda teased gently. Rose teased back, "That's cause the mentor hasn't been keeping up with training." They devolved into light shoving and pushing, laughing lightly all the while.

"So, when are we going to see this demonstration?" Mia asked impatiently. She actually wanted to see the moves in action today, if you please.

Both women seemed to switch from light hearted joy to stoic blank faces in seconds, as if some internal switch had been flicked. Gone were the light bantering and jokes, in its place were steely masks of resolution and imminent destruction. The Moroi women shuddered. They definitely did not want to have those faces turned in their direction any time soon. Those who ever thought that the dhampir women before them were pushovers (cough Moroi men and some women cough) would soon be disabused of that notion.

"Please pay attention, princess, Ms Rinaldi. What we are going to do is a live demonstration of the skills that any decent Guardian needs to have, and that the Mazur Elite must know to survive," Rasheeda said gravely.

"It is not all roses and sunshine out there," Rose picked up the explanation as she settled into her favourite opening stance. "It is a life and death struggle for a lot of vampires outside the Court walls. Guardians need to have these skills if they want to even have a chance against Strigoi." She stood with her legs shoulder width apart, slightly bent at the knees with the left leg forward and her body angled to the side. Rasheeda settled into a similar stance.

"We stand this way, with the more dominant foot in the back, in case we need to start with a kick or move forward quicker. The body is angled slightly to present a smaller target." Rose explained their stances first. Then, with a slight nod of the head, both women sprang into action.

Rasheeda started with a high kick, which Rose easily dodged by leaning slightly to the side and under, which she then retaliated with a strike towards the sternum of the other woman. What followed next was a flurry of punches and kicks, movement so fast that it was almost invisible to the eye. All the while they were sparring, Rose kept up a running commentary of the moves that they used. The four were so engrossed in their demonstration class that none had realised that they were actually starting to attract a small crowd.

They were mostly women dhampirs and Guardians, with a couple of Moroi mixed in, who had been attracted by the demonstration of women power that had been going on unobtrusively in the corner. Many went up to the two newly arrived Guardians during a brief pause in the impromptu show and tell, and asked them (more like begged them) to teach them how to do that. Thus, Rose's new self-defence class for women was born. None of them knew of the brewing storm that was about to erupt on the other side of the gymnasium.

* * *

Dimitri, Eddie and Christian had been in the gym since leaving the princess' room – it had started out as a ruse for getting away from Adrian Ivashkov's inevitable whining due to being excluded from what he deemed as gossip. Then, it had turned serious, as Eddie really had been interested in showing Christian more intricate sparring moves to add to his repertoire. That had been a few hours ago. Guardian Castille and Lord Ozera were now practicing the sparring moves that the Guardian had showed to him, while Dimitri was once again sequestered away in his favoured corner of the gym, doing his training with his favourite partner – himself.

He had been going through his workout routine, and was now on his set of pull ups. It was made infinitely more challenging by him doing it one-handed, with the other hand put behind his back. His left arm strained, the muscles bunching up enticingly as it pulled his entire body weight up the bar, then slowly lowered it down again on his tenth repetition of fifteen reps per arm. As per usual, he didn't pay any mind the crowd that had gathered on the outskirts of his workout area, as long as they didn't disturb him then they weren't worth worrying over. After all, they were just fellow Guardians and ordinary dhampir, they wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

His mind however was not as peaceful as his outer appearance belied – it was roiling inferno of thoughts and conjectures, of half-formed plans and counter plans, and it was all centred on one person, his Roza. Those few moments that he had her in his arms were simultaneously heaven and hell as he re-familiarised himself with her scent and her touch, and when she had gently rejected his suggestion of him keeping her and the children safe, he had been left floundering for a moment. Then, his resolution had kicked in. He would do whatever it took to get her back into his arms, but he had to do it discretely. He didn't need to tip off anyone to his true purpose, yet.

He was broken out of his thoughts when a voice interrupted his inner planning.

"Can I join you at this bar?" a voice said calmly. Dimitri paused mid-rise, and turned to the source of another of his current 'problems', Guardian Valentin Christenson.

"Of course, this is a free gym. You can go anywhere you like," Dimitri answered just as calmly. He looked over at the other equipment, and realised that most were actually free at the moment. So, this meet and greet was on purpose then.

Both men simultaneously started a rep of one-handed pull ups; Dimitri was continuing with his right arm, Valentin did his so that he could get down to the talk he wanted to have with the other man. They did the pull ups in silence, neither men willing to break the unspoken silent accord first. Neither of them realised that their exercising together would actually draw a crowd.

Male and female dhampirs started to gather around their exercise area, Guardians doing their own training while discretely eyeing the two men whom were attracting a lot of female attention, while the dhampirs (whom were mostly women) were standing around doing some stretches and aerobics, all in the bid to catch the attention of either men. Dimitri was the acknowledged dark Adonis at Court and with the arrival of Guardian Valentin Christenson, the Court now had a matching set of dark and light.

However, none dared to move any closer, as both Guardians were giving off an aura of intimidation that any person in their right mind would know to stay away from. It practically screamed at them 'Hands off! Not interested!', a warning that many heeded, but couldn't help the human nature of wanting to defy any orders issued in this manner, especially when the prize was two wholesome male specimens that hadn't been seen at Court in a long, long time.

It was Valentin who broke the covenant of silence first.

"I've heard all about you, Guardian Dimitri Belikov." Valentin said softly, all the while not looking at his counterpart as they spoke. This was a private conversation between two men, after all, no need to clue the others in. "I looked up on you; one of the youngest Level 7 Blood Masters in centuries, graduated at the top of your class in St. Basil's Academy. Went on to be assigned a charge – Ivan Zeklos, whom you became very good friends with. During your family leave, he and another Guardian were ambushed and killed by Strigoi," he turned to glance at the stoic man beside him, "This all happened before you met with Rose. After that, there doesn't seem to be much information about you, until Rose left and you were assigned the Princess Vasilisa Dragomir."

Dimitri responded with a level voice, barely showing any inflection or tone, however his sharp eyed gaze betrayed his ire at the other man. "I have looked up on you as well, Guardian Valentin Christenson. You were found as a baby on the steps of the Norwegian Academy, it was the schools' nurses who gave you the surname of Christenson, after the crucifix found with you, the only thing of note in your basket. You graduated at the top of your class, but went into service for the Mazur clan instead. Officially, you were listed as the Guardian to Lady Fatma Liyana Mazur, even before you met my Roza," he emphasised on the '_my Roza_' part. "Unofficially, you are one of the Captains of the Mazur Elite, a sub-branch of the Guardians in service of the Mazur clan. Code name, Bear," that last was delivered in a hissed whisper, with only the slight widening of the other Guardian's eyes an indicator of his surprise. This was a secret that few knew of, not even Rose was aware of this particular tit bit of information.

"So it seems that you know me quite well, Guardian Belikov," Valentin replied in the same soft tone.

"Yes, just as you seem to know me quite well too," Dimitri answered just as politely. To any random observer, they would look like two men conversing while exercising, albeit the men being very gorgeous and the workout performed being impossible for normal humans to perform at their level of expertise. They wouldn't hear the undercurrent of male posturing inherent in the words exchanged, nor feel the unspoken challenged each man issued to the other.

"I seem to recall that you and Ameerah were an item years ago. That is, until you fucked up," the mock posturing was gone now, all masks were being ripped off between the two Alpha males. "You left her, and she suffered in turn, until she came to me, to us."

"Yes, we were together, and yes, I fucked up," the reply was just as crude. "However, as far as I know, you refer to each other as _brother_ and _sister_. Isn't that even more fucked up?" they were getting to the down and dirty now. "I don't remember any brother looking at his sister the way that you do," he said derisively.

"That is the only position that she is comfortable putting me in," the other man admitted grudgingly. "However, the children still call me Papa Valentin," he dug in slyly.

"I'm sure they didn't know better," came the (barely) chocked reply. "Besides, they have called me Papa as well, which means that Roza has not kept the truth from them. My being their real father trumps the position of a substitute," he replied back, twisting the knife in.

"I have been by her side for six years, through the pregnancy, birth and the children's growing years, every step of the way. I believe that qualifies me for her partner just fine," the verbal knife was slung back at the other man.

"You have never had the privilege of sharing her bed or her heart. Even now, she relegates you to the role of brother, substitute father, an uncle to the children at best. I could tell that in her heart of hearts, no matter what her mouth said, that she still cares for me. Why else would she come back to me, now of all times, and tell me the truth?" Dimitri asked rhetorically. "Admit it to yourself, Roza still loves me. She carried my seed, she came back to me, she is _**mine**_."

"Why don't we settle this dispute the traditional way?" Valentin said impulsively, his hackles rankled by the indisputable truth in Dimitri's statement. Normally he wouldn't do anything this reckless, but when it came to the woman he had fallen in love with, all bets were off.

"What are your terms?" Dimitri replied immediately. Whenever it came down to anything involving his Roza, he was bound to break any and all Guardian behaviour and protocol. Just like he had said to her all those years ago, if he let himself love her, he would not throw himself before the princess; he would throw himself before her. This was exactly the situation that proved it.

"No holds bar fight. We use real stakes, but no debilitating moves. We may injure, but lightly so. We are still Guardians bound by our word to the Court," Valentin replied, his sense of duty prevailing for a moment.

"All right, I accept your terms. The winner proves that he is more suited to be by Rose's side," Dimitri agreed, his Alpha male side equally riled up. He stopped his work out instantly, letting go of the high bar and back flipping to the ground. Valentin followed suit, swinging himself to the floor lightly, not to be outdone by his rival for Ameerah's affection.

"We do this over there," the dark haired Guardian indicated his head towards an empty mat in the gym. It was incidentally one of the bigger sparring mats, as well as near the middle of the room, meaning more people would see them duking it out. Valentin nodded grimly, agreeing with his choice of venue. It soothed something in his ego that the other man acknowledged their innate need to show who was better to the rest of the vampires in the room. Not only would they show that they were better fighters, they would also decide who amongst them was the better fighter, and consequently better man to stand by the woman that they both loved.

The small crowd parted easily as both of the grim faced Guardians left the relative anonymity of the secluded work out space they had previously occupied. They were left wondering what the hell was going on now to make the Russian God, Dimitri Belikov, and newly arrived Norwegian Viking, Valentin Christenson look so grim faced. When both men headed over to the bigger sparring mat in the middle of the gym, the proverbial light bulb seemed to light up in many heads. The two men seemed to have some sort of beef with each other, or maybe this was just a case of territorial Alpha posturing, but it could only mean one thing. Then, when they both whipped out a silver stake each before heading to opposing ends of the mat, everyone knew. An epic fight was about to go down.

Murmurs swept through the crowd at this traditional form of honour fight. This was no ordinary spar – there must be something between both men that had incited this age old way of settling the score. Many knew of the Russian God that was Dimitri Belikov, and they had also heard of the Viking that was Valentin Christenson, the unknown orphan dhampir who had grown up to graduate at the top of his class and become one of the strongest Elite in the Mazur clan. He was rumoured to be just slightly below the rank of Pavel, Ibrahim Mazur's right hand man and head Guardian. This coming spar would not only show off their skills, it would also finally put to rest the issue of who was the better fighter – the Russian God or the Norwegian Viking?

Eddie and Christian were also attracted over by the rumours of an honour fight. They had been taking a breather by the benches lining the gym, when several excited voices had passed them by, rushing towards the middle of the gym.

"Did you hear? There's going to be a spar on the middle mat," one of the Guardians said excitedly.

"Who is it that is sparring? There are a lot of new faces at Court now," his companion said laconically.

"It's not just any old sparring match, it's an honour fight," the first man chimed back.

"Really? You don't say." The second man replied lazily, not the least interested.

"Guys!" another voice chimed in, "You're missing the fight of a life-time!"

"It's between the Russian God and the Norwegian Viking!" a fourth voice piped in just as excitedly.

"Why didn't you say so in the beginning?" the owner of the second voice said immediately, a sense of urgency in his tone. "We've got to see this, come on!" it ended up being him urging his friends to move faster.

Christian looked to Eddie for clarification. Eddie explained as he urged his friend to stand and go over to the site of the honour fight.

"Whenever new Guardians come to Court, or even to any of the academies, the Guardians who are stationed there usually engage the newcomers in a spar. This is not only to gauge their skill level, which is the actual purpose of the spar, but also to establish the pecking order between dhampirs, especially the males of our species," Eddie explained this instinctive reaction of all dhampir men.

"But I have never heard of the Moroi doing anything like this," Christian said, very puzzled. Eddie smirked in reply.

"Don't you Moroi men engage in magic tests?" he said slyly. "Or political debates?"

Christian's brows furrowed. "Yes, but…"

"It's not the same?" Eddie said, grinning wildly now. "Oh, Lord Ozera, it's exactly the same thing, only on a different level. According to history, before the Moroi-dhampir fighting teams were abandoned, you guys used to do the same thing as we did to establish dominance. However, things changed, and so did you guys' ways of settling the pecking order. You resorted to magic and intellect to separate the grain from the chaff, so to speak."

"Okay," Christian said as he digested this kernel of information. Nobody ever explained this to him, after all. "Do the women do this? Or is it only the men?"

"This is mostly done by the men. The women have other ways of establishing the pecking order, which I am not quite so sure how it is done." Eddie admitted. "Besides, even if I knew, Mia would never let me tell you any at all. Seems to be some sort of girl code and all that."

"So, what is this honour fight that those Guardians were talking about? Also, who were the two people they mentioned?" Christian was all Inspector Poirot today, it seemed.

"An honour fight is a fight between two dhampir men, usually Guardians, to settle some sort of issue between them. They fight armed, usually with the traditional silver stake, and the fight is usually no holds barred, meaning almost anything goes. Only exceptions to the fight being permanent disfigurement, death, and cheating. It is considered the lowest of the low to cheat during an honour fight, if you didn't notice the name," the Guardian explained patiently. "Once a fight commences, it can only be concluded when one man emerges the victor in the fight. Some sort of accord or stake is set beforehand to determine the outcome of their issue, then it must be followed to the letter by the loser after that, unless the winner says otherwise."

"And the two men mentioned are…" Christian trailed off invitingly.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" Eddie answered instead, pointing to the two men standing in the mat. The first glance told him instantly who the two men were, and he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"By Vlad, it's Dimitri and Guardian Christenson." Christian breathed out in awe. "What could their honour fight be about?"

"I'm not so sure what it is," Eddie began, "But I have an idea on what it might be." He turned to the vampire beside him. "Come on, this is a once in a life time thing. It's not every day that you get to see two of the greatest fighters of our age in the ring against each other. Let's go closer to get a better look."

Christian, spurred by these comments, agreed enthusiastically. This was a once in a life time opportunity indeed.

Meanwhile, the two combatants got ready for their upcoming honour fight. No matter the outcome, this was the one chance to prove to everyone who was the stronger, the Alpha between them. This was not just a fight for the woman that they loved anymore; it had evolved into a proverbial pissing contest. They were establishing the pecking order now, and the rest would follow suit after that.

Both men gripped their stakes as they settled into their preferred combat stances. There was a sudden hush in the surrounding crowd as the tension between the two combatants ratcheted up. The suspense was so high, no one dared to breathe wrong lest something happened to them instead. The excitement in the air was so thick that you could practically see it. Then, at some unspoken signal, both men _moved_ and the spell was broken. A roar erupted from the crowd.

The fight was on.

Both Guardians exchanged an initial flurry of punches and kicks, each testing the defences of the other. Then, they struck with their stakes at the same time, scoring a hit each. The whistling sound that accompanied the movement of the silver stake through the air was the precursor for the flower like bloom of blood on both men. Dimitri scored a hit on Valentin's chest when the other Guardian hadn't been fast enough to avoid his right handed swipe, whereas Valentin left a long scratch on Dimitri's left side when he had been retreating from the attack. The surrounding crowd oohed and aahed appreciatively. First blood went to neither man.

There was a brief lull where they sized each other up, before the blonde Guardian sprang into action first. He rushed the dark haired Guardian, feinting to the left and the right, before actually tackling the other Guardian to the ground. Both men rolled around a couple of times, each time with one emerging on top to try and make the other tap out. The first one to surrender was the loser of the fight after all. Valentin managed to get Dimitri into a chokehold, but the Russian head butted him, hard, causing the Viking to let go. Dimitri back flipped away, with Valentin doing the same, as they retreated to a respective corner to plan their next move. This was the scene that Rose and co. arrived to.

* * *

After promising the other women that she would arrange for a suitable time for their first self-defence session and subsequently shooing them away, Rose turned back to her original audience and started back her live demonstration when a commotion from the middle of the gym interrupted her again.

"What is it this time?" Rose groused as she turned to look at the source of the commotion. It seemed that a large crowd had gathered around the middle sparring mat of the gym, and more people were coming to see the show all the time. "Unless the world's ending or the sky is falling, could they not disturb us?"

"There seems to be a fight going on." Lissa said succinctly. From her brief observation, that seemed to be the case.

"Why are they fighting?" Mia asked worriedly. "Is it serious?"

"Most probably a couple of Guardians just sparring with each other," Rose said airily. "This happens all the time whenever a new Guardian comes to another place, and there sure were a lot of new Guardians that came to Court with their Moroi charges today."

"But why do they spar like that?" Lissa enquired curiously. "I mean, what's the purpose of all that sparring?"

"The male dhampirs and Guardians spar with the newcomers to establish rank and file. There are bound to be shuffles in ranking whenever someone new comes along. It's something instinctive that all dhampir males do," Rasheeda was the one who took this query.

"Basically, it's a bunch of males in a pissing contest. Why don't they just whip it out and measure it, I don't know," Rose joked none too seriously.

"Rose!" Lissa said, scandalised. Mia just tittered behind her hand while Rasheeda grinned lightly, silently agreeing with her _kuzen_.

"Sorry, Lis, just saying," Rose apologised, but she gave a wink to show that she wasn't serious about the apology. Lissa just huffed.

"The combatants look like Guardian Christenson and… isn't that Guardian Belikov?" Mia questioned, squinting her eyes slightly to get a better look.

The joking look on Rose's face washed away immediately as a look of irritation replaced it instead. She whipped around to stare at the mass in the middle, and made out that the two people on the mat were indeed Dimitri and Valentin. She immediately cursed luridly under her breath as she started forward.

"Shit, this is not just some random spar to establish the pecking order. This is a fucking honour fight," she exclaimed.

"How do you know that, _kuzen_?" Rasheeda asked as she, the princess and the other Moroi woman caught up with Rose.

"What is an honour fight?" Lissa asked, getting worried now too. The name sounded ominous enough. Beside her, Mia nodded her head in assent.

"I know because I can see that both the idiots on the mat are using a silver stake in the fight. Also, Valentin might have kind of asked to court me properly the other day," the last bit was said in a rush. "You know how stubborn Valentin can get, Shida. You remember that he confessed his feelings for me years ago, and I said no." she was babbling a bit.

"Shit." Rasheeda cursed under her breath as well, understanding the situation immediately. This was a complication that Rose didn't need right now.

"I've got to stop them somehow, _kuzen_. You know that I have to. I can't bear to let either of them get hurt over me. Especially not now when everything seems to be going to hell in a hand basket," Rose pleaded with her cousin to understand her stance.

Rasheeda stared at her baby cousin and charge worriedly. "Okay, I get it. But stay safe, okay? And no matter what, don't get hurt. You have to remember that you are not alone anymore."

"Yes, I know," Rose promised, before she sprinted forward and proceeded to wiggle her way through the crowd.

"Can somebody explain to me what the hell is going on?" Mia demanded bossily. She was tired of their questions being ignored.

"Come on, let's go nearer. I'll tell you everything you need to know about this," Rasheeda conceded, leading the two women safely through the steadily rowdier crowd. This was something that they needed to know after all.

In the meantime, Rose managed to wriggle and squeeze her way to the front of the crowd. The emotions of the crowd were high, as this was a fight that seemed to be in the making a long time ago. Their heightened emotions seemed to have no effect on the combatants on the mat though, as their moves were still cool and collected, calculated to the nth degree to cause maximum humiliation and minimum damage. Apparently, the two knuckle heads still managed to keep their heads even during combat.

Rose couldn't afford to get distracted by the lovely male specimens before her – she needed to stop this in its tracks now. But with how both men looked, Dimitri especially, in his black singlet and pants, with his hair mussed and a layer of sweat over his body, was very distracting to Rose. She shook her head, not the time to be drooling over her baby daddy. It was time to get her head in the game and shake this whole thing up.

She boldly stepped forward onto the mat, causing a sudden lull in the noise before murmurs sprung up around her again. No one expected a female Guardian to be crazy enough to get between two fighting male Guardians, especially these two Alpha male dhampirs with some sort of serious beef between them. She gave both men a cool stare, before calling them out on their shit.

"Dimitri, Valentin, stop this fight right now. You both know that nothing good will come of it," she said calmly.

"Hey lady, get out of there! This doesn't concern you," a random spectator shouted, getting agreeing noises from his friends.

"Really, are you sure about that?" she said in a scathing tone, turning to give the idiot who opened up his big mouth a glare. "Why don't we ask the two morons fighting now whether this concerns me or not?" she said as she turned back to stare at the two Guardians. They had the decency to flush lightly.

"You both know very well that your little combat now is not helping," she chided. "But, since you boys like to take out your junk and whip it around to show whose is bigger, why don't I join you?" Rose said sarcastically as she took out the stake that had been hidden in the small of her back and settled into a combat stance.

"Roza!" "Ameerah!" the disapproving toned names came from both men at once, then they glared at each other for calling out to her at the same time.

"Didn't I tell you boys that I'm not some damsel that needs rescuing? I can fight my own battles, so that also means that I can kick ass on my own. You wanted to fight, so fight me. I'll show you that I don't need any arguments over me to occur – I can settle it between either of you fair and square."

Both men decided to ignore that last bit and concentrate on their original fight. They sprang into action once more, determined to continue their unspoken battle for the ladies' hand. What they didn't count on was for the lady in question to spring between them during the fight.

Dimitri was aiming for a swipe of Valentin's torso, while the other was aiming for a spot near Dimitri's heart, when Rose suddenly sprang between them, stake in hand. They had no choice but to pull their swings, but it still nicked the fabric of her clothes, leaving a sliver of skin above her breast and a light slash on her back visible to the crowd. There was no blood, but it was their action of pulling back when she got in the way, that was all the confirmation the crowd needed to prove that this matter between the two men most **definitely** concerned her.

Rose frowned minutely. Seems like she needed to knock some sense into the two Neanderthals next to her. She couldn't have them fighting over her now, and causing another scandal at Court, when shit was about to hit the fan. And they had ruined one of her favourite workout clothes to boot.

What happened next was a flurry of punches and kicks, swings and ducks and rolls between three combatants on the mat. The two men were determinedly fighting each other, and avoiding the woman between them. The woman, later identified as the Rose Hathaway, was just as determined to get between them and separate the two. It was like watching poetry in motion, the fight of the three. The men lashed out at each other, but had the presence of mind to avoid hitting her, whereas she had no qualms in fighting both at the same time, ducking and weaving around the two men like some sort of combat ballet, pushing and kicking the men away from each other.

The sheer magnetic attraction though between the three people on the mat was palpable. Rose was like the sun, while Dimitri and Valentin were like the planets that orbited her, always keeping her in sight at all times. They seemed to jockey for position around her, as if trying to protect her, whereas she repelled them like the radiation of the sun did, not giving any quarter to either man. They fought over her like alpha wolves fighting for the right to mate with the lone alpha female, whereas she fought them as if she were the alpha female not interested in taking one.

The cheering in the crowd had swelled when the fight recommenced, and it had gotten even hotter than before. This was not just some random issue; this was most definitely a fight for the lady's hand. However, it seemed like the lady in question was not amenable to the fight, which made some sense as she had just recently been involved in the biggest scandal to hit Court in centuries. There were actually bets going on as to who will emerge the winner of this fight, and money seemed to be exchanging hands fast.

Then suddenly, it was over. There was definitely a winner in this brawl, and it wasn't either man. Rose was standing between both men, finally having decided to end their stupid pissing contest, and that enough was enough. Her right arm was extended, stake first, under Dimitri's chin, while her right leg was extended, retractable blade out, under Valentin's chin as well. Dimitri and Valentin both had their stakes extended, but she clearly managed to separate them and end the fight.

"That's enough," a voice suddenly said from the direction of the doors. Everyone turned to see who it was, and the crowd immediately parted for the owner of said voice.

The Queen had arrived, and she was most assuredly not pleased with what was going on.

"Guardians Belikov, Christenson, Hathaway-Mazur, explain yourselves.

* * *

**Meaning of words used:**

_Varis_ – Turkish for 'heiress' (pronounced as _vah + riss_)

_Kuzen_ – Turkish for 'cousin' (pronounced as _coo + zan_)

* * *

AN: Whew, finally managed to vomit out this whole thing. Am gonna need some time to get the next installation up though. My muse seems to have flown to parts unknown, and I have no idea when the next instalment will come out. Wish me luck though, and as always, reviews are a balm to my soul.


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